


the woods are lovely, dark and deep, (but I have promises to keep)

by thatdamnuchiha



Category: Naruto
Genre: (mentioned) - Freeform, Alpha Uchiha Madara, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, F/M, Female Uchiha Madara - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Founding of Konoha, Genderswap, Haruno Sakura Deserves Better, Haruno Sakura Has Issues, Haruno Sakura Needs a Hug, Haruno Sakura is So Done, Haruno Sakura-centric, Humor, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Long-Haired Haruno Sakura, Male Haruno Sakura, Omega Haruno Sakura, One-Sided Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, POV Haruno Sakura, Past Rape/Non-con, Possessive Uchiha Madara, Pre-Canon, Pre-Konoha Village, Protective Haruno Sakura, Protective Uchiha Madara, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Strong Haruno Sakura, Summons, Time Travel, Warring States Period (Naruto), Worldbuilding, that's why the warning is there folks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 06:47:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23467117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatdamnuchiha/pseuds/thatdamnuchiha
Summary: Sakura never meant for it to happen. He didn’t mean to wind up a hundred years in the past when alphas ran wild and omegas cowered in fear. He never meant to wind up collecting small, helpless omegas like Tsunade collected sake either.But he did, and now he has to pay the price – because each of those small omegas has their own past and their own goals. Though sometimes goals aren’t all that easy to achieve and the past soon comes around to bite.Survival is a tricky thing.It’s even harder when you’re an omega in an alphas’ world, but then again, Sakura has always been rather good at breaking the mould. He’ll just have to do it a hundred odd years earlier than before and bear the consequences of that.Even if said consequence’s name is Uchiha Madara.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Madara, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 239
Kudos: 1402
Collections: Of Tales and Tears, Reverse The Hourglass: Sakura Edition, The Many Iterations of Haruno Sakura, Time and Dimension Travel Involving Medical Advancements





	1. miles to go before I sleep

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I guess this is for 'Ryan' who commented on Impetuous, and sadly doesn't seem to have an Archive account so I can't gift this, who said that we don't have enough male!Sakura and that A/B/O and both of those combined is gold.
> 
> Admittedly this is a hell of a lot different to Impetuous in terms of tone. This is DARKER and has less humour throughout - though there will be splashes here and there. But this was kind of my compromise, since I can't really extend the length of 'Impetuous' all that well since I haven't laid enough groundwork for an extensive plot. Plus that was my sort of dive into the world of male!Sakura fics, since I'm better at writing from the female POV. Since said little splash was successful, here's what I hope will be a long fanfic... though, as always.
> 
> SPORADIC UPDATES T_T
> 
> Because my mind is a jumble of ideas, of which I am determined to finish all of them... eventually.
> 
> P.S. The archive warning is solely for mentions and implications of rape - I won't be describing any scenes like that graphically, so if you're alright with that... Welcome aboard the male!Sakura/fem!Madara ship.

Wind whistled in his ears as he stared down the gully, tilting his head as he weighed up the size of the drop and the distance across the narrow little ravine. Trees camouflaged him well, but he could never be too careful, given when and where he had landed. He wasn’t entirely too sure of the exact geographical location – only that there were two warring clans, neither of which he was familiar with, and they were at each other’s throats. They were hardly going to ask his allegiance either. He had discovered, rather abruptly, that they were the _stab first_ kind of people and those were the kinds he couldn’t reason with. He wasn’t like Naruto. He couldn’t talk people down. Nor could he impress his long-time crush – the beautifully deadly Uchiha Sasuke. He had long since wanted to impress the girl but had never quite been capable of that. He had thought maybe he would have a chance since becoming Tsunade’s student, but he had never been able to find her and show her that. Not the way Naruto always had.

Now they were busy being happy as a couple together, and Sakura was stuck in this mess. A scowl made his lips curl down, and he left the cover of the trees, jumping across the gully, peering down at the makeshift map he had created over the last few weeks of travelling. It would be a while before he could manage to buy one in a larger town – perhaps after earning more money as a freelance shinobi.

The scent of blood hit his nose, and then he crouched down, casting a quick genjutsu over himself. It would never fool a trained sensor nor a genjutsu type shinobi, but it was enough for slipping past the clashes between the two bloodthirsty clans bearing symbols he had no idea of. It was the only way for him to get out alive without causing mass casualties in a landslide.

Ground was steeped, and sodden in weeks’ worth of rain, and that meant any punches he threw would have a catastrophic affect, possibly both for himself and everyone else around him. Shaking his head, he moved on, careful to steer clear of the sounds of metal clashing as he made his way to the next village.

Shivering, Sakura moved on, careful of where he trod, blinking as he felt the droplets of rain hit his forehead. Maybe that big forehead was good for something. _Not that it really was all that big._ That was just his childish insecurities talking. Shaking his head, he hurried towards the south – or what he assumed to be the south in any case – shivering as the temperatures dropped, and Sakura started to have suspicions he would be entering the Land of Snow, or somewhere with similar temperatures to that place. The trees were all looking to become silver birch, and he vaguely recalled a similar looking tree in his memories of the Land of Snow. _Not that silver birch were all that rare._ He was just praying to kami that he found his feet soon.

Especially since Naruto probably wouldn’t be coming to save him. The other boy had always been fixated on Sasuke. _Probably a crush he had never really acknowledged until Sasuke had run from them after her brother_. Sakura only wondered how long it would take before they wrote him off as dead. KIA or MIA, or worse rogue. Silently, Sakura prayed they would investigate. That they would figure out which one of the obscure seals he had stepped on in his diversion to Uzushio to lose his pursuers. That they would bring him back to those peaceful times when he had a place in Konoha.

Sakura laughed, staring up at the sky, closing his eyes as he used the meagre sensory abilities he was still discovering to check whether he was safe. _As if that would happen._ Naruto and Sasuke were happy. _They didn’t care how much it broke his heart when they went on dates._ He was just the jealous fanboy, and that was all he would ever be.

He closed his eyes, remembering how excited he had been when he had finally presented as an omega. Secondary genders weren’t that important as they had been in years gone by then, but he had foolishly believed he was perfect for the alpha which Uchiha Sasuke had presented to be. Naruto had been an alpha too, as had Kakashi – and he had been the first one out of all of them to realise what he was. Though that might have been because it was in his file.

Kakashi had treated him with the kiddie gloves because of that.

His fist slammed out, chakra coated fingers crunching into the thin trunk of the nearest tree, and Sakura cursed as it fell over noisily. He ran on, reminding himself not to think about his failed relationships and the terrible teachings he had been subjected to. _Until he had found Tsunade._ The woman herself was an alpha, but she had taught him everything he needed to know. She had helped him find his feet – hadn’t treated him like glass. _She had told him the Uchiha wasn’t worth it, either._ How he wished he had listened to that piece of advice.

He could still remember the look of disgust on Sasuke’s face when he had been outed as an omega, willingly thank to his mother’s insistence on concealing his scent and all the training Tsunade had put him through. Her words haunted him even to that very day. _“No wonder you’re so weak.”_

Sakura let out a breath, fighting the urge to hit something again – it would only bring him more trouble. It was time to move on and forget Uchiha Sasuke. _She was toxic to him._ She had never seen his true strength – and it wasn’t the boulder destroying force he was capable of. No. His true strength lay in his learning, and the fact he was committed to never giving up in that – just like Naruto and his unwavering determination to be the strongest… to be Hokage… to use all his flashy jutsu and the fox’s chakra.

But he had been born into a clan, admittedly a practically dead one, but his heritage had shone through. Heritage Sakura didn’t have. Yet he was still determined to rise above the shadows both Sasuke and Naruto had cast – and the one thing he had going for him was his mind. He had reached the limits of his chakra-enhanced blows, though he was still working on improvements to the Yin Seal in the centre of his forehead.

_There had be a way to remove the effect of decreasing his lifespan, and his years of research after the heartbreak that was Uchiha Sasuke had pointed him to an answer._

Nature chakra.

But before he could return and continue that avenue of research, he had found himself cast adrift from his own time and place – thrown unceremoniously into a land which seemed to want him dead. Shinobi struck before asking questions, and civilians were wary and guarded when it came to shinobi. _Especially the lone ones like himself._

After all, they tended to be the ones thrown out by their own clan. _And what kind of monster would they have to be for their own clan to abandon them like that?_ Sakura sighed. Things just kept getting harder and harder for him. Still, he kept pressing onwards, a single goal in his mind as he kept up his pace: get to Konoha. Though given the amount of warring clans there were, and the date the locals told him it was… Sakura wasn’t all that hopeful that Konoha actually existed. He only hoped it would be formed within his lifetime, and that he could join the village. _If only to give himself a stable income and a slight sense of familiarity._

He hated being lost. He hated being terrified for his life without respite. Letting out another long breath, he ploughed on, gaze narrowing as the ground became frosted, and he left the rain behind. Peering down at his open toed sandals, Sakura sighed. He would have to find some sturdy boots in the next village, given the climate of the new region he seemed to have entered.

Sakura was only thankful it likely meant he had left those two clans behind. He didn’t particularly want to wind up dead, but he probably would take death over being outed as an omega in the current time he was in.

Alphas and omegas were the more fertile couples, and they generally produced stronger heirs with stronger kekkei genkai, provided their parents had at least one. It was why lone omega were hunted more often than not. Though occasionally one came across a respectful clan, or so the history books had said. Sakura didn’t particularly want to chance it.

He was only lucky Tsunade had taught him how to cover up his scent and all traces of his omega features – not that the softness to his face could really be covered up. He just had to hide that under glares and his own strength. _Then it would be written off as some faulty genetics, or maybe something beautiful._

Tsunade was the reason why he had changed from the long trailing red tunic to the shorter changshan. It was still a red colour, as he so loved, but it was no longer the burning red of the sharingan he had once picked to match the shade Sasuke’s eyes would turn. Instead, it was a darker red. A blood red, bordered with white. The tassels tied in a diagonal line towards his right arm, their colouring a mix of white and red patterns. The red parts were notoriously easy to clean, and the white parts were small enough that it didn’t matter all too much if there was a splash of blood here and there. _It just meant he had been working._

His pants were a white colour as well, his black sandals reaching up to his knees where his three-quarter lengths tucked into there. It always tended to give him a rather feminine appearance. _A pretty boy,_ as Ino had once called him. Before she had broken her friendship with him because he was mooning after Sasuke.

Sakura sighed for what had to be the thousandth time. _He wished he’d noticed Ino in that capacity before. Wished he’d noticed her crush on him. Wished he hadn’t broken her heart._ But she had Sai now, and she was happy.

Meanwhile Sakura had so many regrets. He was slowly starting to come to terms with the fact he wasn’t really cut out for romantic larks. In fact, he might have well as sworn them off the moment he stepped foot into those lands. Relationships usually tended to focus on scents and compatibility in the time he was in before personality and the like. _Well that was if it was a relationship in the first place._

He shuddered at the thought. Murder, thievery, and rape were rife in the Warring Clans Era. _Well, more so than in his own time._ Security and policing was better, and it had made everywhere that much safer. _Had kept the streets clean by imprisoning the minor offenders and usually executing the major offenders._ Now though, things were unchecked – and there were no hidden villages around to take on the roles of keeping the people safe. Omegas like himself usually disappeared, regardless of gender, and soon found themselves as some other alpha’s plaything. He had seen the documentaries, read the books written by the people themselves or their descendants who’d seen them suffer through it.

The leather of his gloves creaked as his hands curled that much tighter. _It was just until the hidden villages were formed._ Then everything would calm down, and omegas would be that much safer. _Well aside from the possibility of being married into a clan._

That was one of the possibilities he was most worried about.

But that probably wasn’t his most pressing issue, he mused, pulling the warm coat he had bought at the first village he found himself in further around his shoulders. For now, he needed to get to familiar territory – and something told him he might need to cross an ocean or two.

* * *

“Passage for one,” he spoke, glaring at the gap-toothed sailor staring at him in shock. _It was probably the undoubtedly masculine voice he had._ Ever since he had let his hair grow out, it had become a problem with people he hadn’t known. It probably didn’t help he had tied his wonderfully pastel pink locks back with a bright red ribbon either.

The same kind of ribbon Ino had given to him long ago. Not that the original was in his hair. _No, the original was burnt to ashes, just like Ino’s once upon a time crush on him._ He had learnt the hard way that precious things tended to get ruined on missions. _By teammates’ jutsus more often than not._

Oh… how he had forgiven Sasuke for ruining the only reminder of the girl who had been his only friend for the first few years of his life. He regretted forgiving her. _Then again, he was probably being bitter._ He never should have taken anything as burnable and breakable as that out of the village.

He had learnt his lesson though, and the ribbon in his hair hadn’t been given by anyone special. It was just one of the numerous ones he had on him – the others stowed away with all his other non-essential items in a storage scroll.

“Right,” the sailor mumbled, seemingly catching himself before he could do or say anything untoward to a customer. “Yes, right away, sir,” he said, taking the coinage Sakura handed to him. “Go right ahead.”

Sakura breezed past, walking up the perilously thin gangplank with all the grace of an accomplished shinobi. His footsteps made no sound, and all too soon he was aboard the shabby ship. The accommodations were clean for their time, though by no means pleasant, and Sakura prepared himself for the long journey ahead. It would take seven days to reach his destination, and that all depended on good winds and fair fortune.

Though Sakura was fairly sure he could probably pull the ship along in the right direction if the winds turned against them for no other reason than that the universe hated him. How else would he explain his miserable situation otherwise?

He went the rear of the ship, staring out across the frosty lands he had already traversed, closing his eyes as he put the worst of his journey behind him. Finding work was harder as a freelance shinobi, but not impossible – and Sakura was impossibly determined to thrive in that new time he found himself in. _At least until Konoha was formed and he could join the powerhouses of Fire Country._

Maybe then he’d be able to sleep with both eyes closed for once.

* * *

Noises woke him deep in the night, and not the constant creaking of the ship. Instead it was the hubbub of voices. Groaning, Sakura shifted in his hammock, glad he was in an empty room with no other passengers. All the others had taken one look at him and all his shinobi-ness, and promptly left him in a room all by himself.

“Captain!”

The shout made him groan yet again, and he clapped his hands over his ears, praying he could fall back asleep as a commotion overtook the ship. _Why did it have to be so noisy?_ All he could hear was the jeers of the crew, and the scent of unwashed bodies and alphas alongside the tart scent of—

Sakura’s eyes shot open, nostrils flaring as he caught the scent. The sweetness of an omega’s scent overlaid by the tartness which represented terror. Sheer undiluted terror. He shook his head, leaping down from his bunk, storming out of his door. He remembered that scent. He had once produced it – though he hadn’t been able to detect his own natural scent. Only the tart scent which had leaked from him back in Wave in response to his own fear.

 _That truly had been an eye-opening mission._ Looking back, he probably should have realised then that Sasuke would never care for him, and Kakashi wouldn’t ever teach him the skills he really needed to know to defend himself, nor that Naruto would ever look. _Really look and see the cracks starting to form in his psyche and ask him why… ask him what happened and support him through his darkest hours._

He could still remember the coppery blood on his tongue, his hands lathered in the dark red liquid. He could still remember frantically washing himself off in the river, desperate to get the stains off him. _Desperate to get their filth off him. Desperate to be clean and whole again._

His footsteps were still silent in his rage, prayers in his head that he was wrong. That his instincts were wrong as he kicked open the door to the mess.

But he wasn’t wrong. His instincts hadn’t failed him as of yet.

“What,” he snarled, capturing the room’s attention in seconds – or maybe it was kicking open the door noisily which had done just that – “exactly is going on in here?” he demanded, lip curling is disgust as he caught sight of the two girls surrounded by the array of sailors. _Omegas, the pair of them._

“None of your business,” a nasally voice sounded, and Sakura turned to glare at the buck-toothed sailor with the beaver-like face. “This is crew business, _sir_.”

Sakura sighed, deliberately stroking at the grip of the o katana he had purchased from the nearest blacksmith who made the weapons of his trade. “I’m sorry,” he said, verdant eyes narrowed, chakra coating the air as he released the tiniest amount of killing intent that he could – and having ten years of practice since he’d begun his shinobi career it was fairly controlled and more than enough to deal with civilians. “What exactly is going on here?” he repeated. “Don’t make me ask a third time.”

“Stowaways, sir,” a burlier man answered, glaring at him in return. Sakura almost chuckled. _Like he would be able to stand against him._ “They either pay their toll or they get thrown offboard.”

 _And three guesses how two penniless omegas would ‘pay’ their toll in their eyes._ His hands curled then, shivers running down his spine at the hungry look in their eyes. _He remembered that look all too well._

He reached into his bag, a sneer on his face as he pulled out the correct toll, throwing it out in front of the crew. “You’re being too noisy,” he said, eyes cold. “There. That’s their toll paid,” he continued, casting his eyes over the two children. They couldn’t have been any older than ten. _Younger than he was at that time._ “Now leave them be, and let them get to a bunk,” he ordered.

“Well aren’t you a knight in shining armour,” one sneered, and Sakura found himself frowning as he found the round, reddish face of the captain who’d clearly had a few too many beers. He held the stare, fingers curled around his favoured weapon in that time.

“They’re children, you disgusting pig,” Sakura said, scowling when neither of the children made to move. _Frozen in terror, he realised._ Of course they were. It was only natural. He’d had to train himself out of that habit. _In order to move on. In order to ensure it wouldn’t happen again._ Given that he’d paid for them, he could hardly leave them there. Those men wouldn’t stop. That much Sakura knew, so he moved forwards them, gathering the both of them up, scowling at how bare they were. _The pigs had ripped off their clothing._ His eyes narrowed, and he forced the memories and the accompanying bile back. _He hated male alphas._ Though females weren’t necessarily better. It was just the ones he’d encountered so far had mostly been males. _Mostly._

He reached his cabin, depositing the pair on the ground, glad he had plenty of spare clothing as he tossed two of his shirts over the children, along with a blanket before he climbed up into the hight hammock once more – leaving the pair of them to their own devices.

“I’d advise that you don’t sleep on the floor,” Sakura called down softly, staring at the grimy ceiling. The floor would only be worse.

Sighing softly, he shut his eyes, body still on full alert. _And likely would be now that he knew the true faces of the crew._ It seemed there’d be no relaxation for him until they reached shore. Scowling, Sakura ignored the rustling of the children below as they crawled up into a hammock together, silently counting the days until he would be free of that disgusting boat and be able to soar through the tree branches once more.


	2. whose woods these are I think I know

The shore and the harbour were a welcome sight for sore eyes, or so Sakura found as he flicked the blood from the tanto he had drawn. There had been no need for him to use his o katana for a job like that, or so he mused as he kicked the quivering body of the beaver-toothed sailor, rolling him over with his dirtied boot. Sighing softly, he picked up the sullied, severed finger, scoffing in disgust as he pried open the bastard’s mouth, shoving the bloody digit inside. “Was it worth it?” he asked, forcing his mouth shut. “I’m fairly sure I made it clear those girls weren’t to be touched,” he continued, lips pulled back in a snarl. “And I think you’ve just found out what happens to _wandering_ fingers when you _fuck_ with what I’ve decided to protect.” A sneer painted his face, and Sakura revelled in the sheer look of fear in the _pathetic_ alpha’s eyes as he squeezed at the bone white cheeks – not allowing him to spit out his own flesh and blood. _He could choke on it for all Sakura cared._

Mood soured, Sakura slide his tanto back into its sheath across his lower back, the clink of the blade settling fully allowing him to step back. _His work was complete._ After all, any sort of open wound was potentially lethal on a ship what with all the disease and filthy aboard vessels. _He would die slowly and in complete and utter agony._ Smirking, Sakura stuck his head into his bunk room, eyeing the two shaking girls cuddling each other like their lives depended on it.

“We’ve reached shore,” he informed them curtly. “I assume you had a reason for leaving… You wouldn’t happen to have any family waiting for you in these lands, would you?” he asked, fully expecting nothing of the sort – so it was a rather pleasant surprise when one of the girls nodded. “Are they waiting for you?”

“No,” she said, her voice small and croaky. “They don’t know about me…”

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “Clan?”

She nodded, confirming his worst suspicions. The brat was a bastard child, a so-called mission baby – and the other was seemingly just her friend who’d run away with her. Idiots the pair of them – they would have been safer where they were – they were damned lucky that he had been aboard the same ship which they had snuck onto. _Otherwise they would have either drowned or been raped. Over and over again, until the pigs were happy._ It was a common fate then and there.

Which was why there felt like there was a rock in his stomach, dragging it down to his toes. Because clearly the pair had no survival skills, and now they were afoot in a foreign land. And he knew what would happen if he left them to their own devices. Scowling, he ran a hand through his greasy hair. “Fuck,” he muttered, scowling as he felt the ship come to a halt and heard the shouts of the captain and crew as they prepared to disembark.

A hand creased his now off-white three-quarter lengths, and Sakura glanced down, staring at the little brunette clinging to his pants, doe brown eyes staring up into his own, wide and pleading. _Double fuck._ Sakura let out a long breath. “Alright, brats,” he muttered. “Do you want to follow me for the time being?” he asked, folding his arms as he half-wished they would say no. _He didn’t know the first thing about looking after children. Especially not vulnerable little omegas who’s run away from everything they’d ever known._

The answering nods made him relieved and agitated – relieved because he wouldn’t have to worry over their fates but agitated because he now had two little packmates. Two little lives under his care. _He was no alpha – no proper alpha who was supposed to look after and provide for their pack._ Omegas weren’t leaders by nature, in fact it was the exact opposite of their nature. They were protectors of their mate or themselves, depending on their sex, during pregnancy, and that was one of the few times alphas actually feared omegas. _But alphas had always figured ways around those sorts of instincts. Found ways to defile and hold them down. Found ways to torment them, just because they could. Because they believed omegas were lesser, and that they belonged to them._ He had read of that happening.

“Follow me,” he ordered, gritting his teeth as she kept a hold of his pant leg – forcing him to walk at a horrifically slow pace. Glares bore into him from all sides as he made his way over to the gangplank. _A couple still leered at the two attached to his hip like glue._

“You’re not welcome back aboard this ship,” the captain told him, sneering at him and the pair of omegas at his side. “Good riddance.”

“I should be the one saying that,” Sakura said, taking a single glance at the horribly narrow plank before he picked up the two little lives now under his care, an arm wrapped around each of their waists as he made to leave the ship. Chuckling, he paused, wind whipping his hair behind him as he turned to face the shabby ship crew. “I hope you all drown.”

* * *

“Better,” Sakura remarked, sitting in the woods atop a fallen log, inspecting the snares the girls had made. The same he had taught them to make a couple of hours ago. “We’ll set these out tomorrow. It’s too late to find game trails with those eyes of yours,” he said, folding his arms as he cast his eyes over their makeshift camp some distance into the forest beyond the harbour town. He wasn’t chancing any foolish, drunken alphas stumbling into their camp. _Not that they’d probably still be alive, given all the traps he had laid around the area._

That was another thing he needed to teach the little omegas before they wound up parting ways. When he left them – and it would be sooner rather than later, because he had enough things to deal with without two little girls dogging his footsteps.

“I’ll be heading into town soon,” he told them, herding them over to the bedding he’d set up for them, ignoring the panicked looks they sent his way. “Don’t look at me like that, brat,” he grumbled, glaring at the little black-haired one. “I need to pick up some supplies for us.”

“But… what if someone comes while you’re gone?” she whispered, hand curling in the fabric of his trousers yet again.

“There are traps set up all around here,” he informed them, all but tucking them into the blankets and furs he had acquired over his journey so far. _Something about his omega instincts always urged him to stock up on furs and blankets._ Soft things. Comfortable things. The kind of items and objects which helped to make a nest or added to an alpha’s den. Though somehow he doubted his vast collection would ever end up decorating an alpha’s den. Not when he hated the stench of them. _He hated alphas._ “So they’d die before they got to you… though speaking of those – don’t sneak out. The traps I’ve set up can kill you in a heartbeat, so stay here if you know what’s good for you.”

“You’ll come back, won’t you?” Another tiny hand curled around the fabric covering his other leg.

“Of course I will, brat,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes at their antics. _Though they were traumatised little beans, so he couldn’t be too mean in his wording._ Sighing, he pulled himself loose of their determined grasps. “See you in the morning,” he muttered, weaving his way through all the traps he had set up, heading straight for the town blacksmith he had seen on their walk from the docks to the forest. It was larger than the place where he had found his current o katana and tanto, and Sakura was hoping to find some spares there. _He had plenty of money left, thanks to all those freelance missions he had carried out back in what had in fact, as he had suspected, been the Land of Snow._

He had crossed the Aisu Bay and landed in what was the bottom rightmost corner of Earth Country, in some nameless town. But that nameless town had a rather good blacksmith as he soon discovered much to his own delight.

The blacksmith was an old man – though he had two apprentices, both of them younger betas closer to his own age – and all he needed was a single glance at Sakura. “How can I help you today, shinobi-san?” he inquired politely, causing both of his apprentices to stiffen at the title.

“I’m looking for some blades,” Sakura said, meeting the sharp steel grey eyes which flickered over to the array of weaponry on display. “Might I take a look?”

The old man nodded sharply. “Go ahead, shinobi-san.”

“Do you perhaps have kunai and shuriken in stock?” Sakura asked, heading towards the displays, eyes locking on a beautiful o katana. _He really was starting to love the feel of wielding the longer katana blade._

“The baskets on the shelves, shinobi-san. You’ll find what you’re looking for there,” he informed, and Sakura nodded, first going over to check their quality. Kunai and shuriken were a shinobi’s bread and butter. _They were also good weapons for the little baby omegas to start out with,_ he mused, looking over them with an expert eye, testing their weighting as he threw them up in the air – catching them effortlessly in a display he knew unnerved the apprentices.

He could barely keep the smirk off his face as he made his choices. _Kunai, shuriken, another o katana, a wakizashi, and six tanto blades – two for him, two for the little brunette, and then another pair for the other brat under his care._ Sakura withheld the wince as he counted out the correct amount to pay the man for his hard work. _This was going to be a sizeable dent in his pocket._

“Heading to the mines, are we, shinobi-san?” the blacksmith asked, raising one sharp eyebrow, steel grey eyes cutting into him as he swiftly stowed away his purchases in one of the sealing scrolls he’d thankfully just about managed to create back in Snow Country.

Sakura met his stare, his own eyebrows raised. “Why would I be heading there?”

The old man sat back, a contemplative expression on his face. “Just arrived in town then,” he muttered to himself. “There’s a bandit infestation in the mines a few miles north of here… they’ve been raising quite the ruckus, what with raising the prices and slaughtering our folk if they disagree with what they do…”

“Is there a reward for these bandits’ heads?” Sakura questioned, eager to earn back some of the money he had just lost.

“Aye, shinobi-san,” he said. “Though you would be better off talking to our mayor… but be warned, those bandits are no simple ones. Goro is their leader, and even if you are a foreigner you should know of how tricky he is. Tales have been told far and wide of his exploits.” The old man shook his head. “A terrible alpha that one…”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed, fingers curling around the grip of his o katana. “Really now…? Sounds like my kind of prey,” he murmured. “Do you know where I might find bows within this town?”

“Three doors up,” the blacksmith informed him. “Good evening, shinobi-san, and thank you for your patronage.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow, inclining his head in acknowledgement as he went to seek out the bow craftsman. It was the next best weapon for the fledgling omegas under his care… and then he’d be able to teach them how to hunt.

_So they would be able to hunt for their dinner and defend themselves while he went hunting for bandits._

Sakura tilted his head, glancing up at the skies. _It was such a pretty night there._ Though come morning he ought to find the mayor of the puny little town and enquire about the reward he would be getting soon.

“Goro,” he whispered, words lost to the wind which howled as he ventured to where the blacksmith had told him to. “Maybe now I’ll have a little excitement,” he mumbled, venturing into the wood workshop, blinking at the sight of the wrinkled old man sitting behind the counter. Green eyes narrowed, catching the glint of metal around his neck, becoming slits as he spotted the pendant hanging from his neck. The one with three tomoe which seemed to whirl to Sakura’s eyes, just like the eyes after which they had just been shaped.

_Though the large gunbai which hung from the wall behind him was that much more interesting, or so Sakura thought as he made his way forwards, curiosity burning at the mystery in front of him._


	3. to watch his woods fill up with snow

“Ah, shinobi-san…” the man spoke, and Sakura blinked as he was met with the sight of two milky white eyes. He was blind, Sakura realised. “How may I help you?” he enquired politely, and Sakura looked between him and the gunbai, staring at the three tomoe painted on its surface in black, the rest of it a milky white colour.

Stepping up to the counter, he stared down at the elderly man’s hands, frowning at the callouses there. _Was he a member of the Uchiha Clan? Or perhaps a vassal?_ But what would a vassal of Fire Country be doing in Earth Country? Shaking his head, Sakura focused on what he had come there for. “I’m looking for some bows. One adult. One child,” he said, knowing the pair would be able to share. _He’d always wanted to use a bow – Tenten had told him all about them, and how, with his strength, he’d be able to draw the strongest kind._ The amount of force behind an arrow like that would be tremendous, or so Tenten had said.

Sakura barely had to blink before a set were placed on the counter in front of him, unstrung, the wood lacquered to protect it from the elements it would no doubt be subjected to throughout its use. “You know how to find the correct arrows for your build, correct?” the old man asked, and Sakura nodded – before remembering the old man was blind.

“I do,” he said succinctly, remembering what his weapon master friend had told him. “Though whilst I look through these arrows, would you terribly mind telling me the story behind that gunbai above your head?” Sakura’s eyes narrowed into flinty chips, a smirk crossing his face at the contemplative look on the old man’s face.

“A present from my late wife,” he said, as Sakura sifted through the different lengths of arrows, trying to find the right match for him as well as the little children under his care. _Though it was better for them to be slightly too long rather than too short, so he would ere on the long side for them._ “She always said it was one of only two gunbai fashioned in that manner – from a particular wood—”

“So that old piece of junk might actually be worth something?” a young, cocky voice echoed around the room, and Sakura stiffened as the scent of an _alpha_ permeated through the room. “Isn’t that lucky for you, old man… considering we’re here for your debts.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow, edging back, not wanting to get involved in the struggle of a debt collection. It was hardly his place to intervene… _though he still needed to make a purchase._ His eyes narrowed. _Should he intervene or not?_

“Haven’t you taken enough?” the old man hissed, rising to his feet. Blinking, Sakura could only watch as the old man grew angry, though he hadn’t looked like the grouchy type as far as she could tell. “You said we were finished… last week…”

“Your grandson proved to be… rather disappointing,” the alpha leered, and Sakura tensed at the sheer fury radiating from the older man. “He’s gotten rather loose as of late, y’know… and his value on the market has dropped because of that.”

“Bastards,” the old man hissed, signs of his alpha heritage peeking through as he bared his teeth. “You should’ve taken the gunbai in the first place…”

“But it was so much fun to watch you beg, old man,” the younger alpha said, laughing all the while. “It’s always fun to see such a prideful old alpha on his knees… begging us to spare his grandson… After all, the sins of the father are the sins of the son… plus he was such a cute little omega, and you alphas were so very desperate to protect him from us. I mean, we’d give him back – if only to watch you break – but we’re still managing to find some good uses for him.”

Cracks split the desk where the old man stood, a cry of rage escaping his throat as he charged at the pair, and Sakura’s eyes widened when he heard the sickly thump before the old man hit the floor. _And then their words finally registered in his brain._

They were part of the group of bandits, weren’t they? Sakura tilted his head to the side, looking the pair up and down. _And they had taken a little baby omega away from his family… and they were…_

Sakura’s teeth clenched.

_Unacceptable._

His toes clenched, and he found himself wanting to break something. He despised alphas like them to the core. “I’ll be making a purchase, old man,” he spoke, voice resonating through the shop, and Sakura took an inordinate amount of glee in the way the pair of bandits stiffened as he walked back into view of the main store room. “You won’t mind if I get a bit of blood on the walls, do you?” he asked, green eyes glinting as they locked on his prey. “I’ll pay extra for the cleaning…”

The shorter blonde laughed at him. “You…?” he spoke, scepticism dripping from his words. “You think a measly… beta, can stand up to two alphas?” Sakura only smirked at the confusion around his presentation. _He was growing awfully good at concealing both his scent and his presence._ The Warring Clans Era had only pushed him that much harder and faster. _Because the consequences of being found out there were that much worse._

Sakura smiled, a twisted, warped thing which would have had any intelligent man running for the hills. The two in front of her though, were cocky and foolish, so Sakura didn’t have much trouble slamming their heads into the wall – their skulls leaving indents in the panelling, a horrible _crack_ sounding as he tightened his grip on their heads. “Silly little alphas,” he whispered, still smiling as he felt the bone give way and cave in. Blood and brain matter oozed between his fingers, and Sakura made a note to find the nearest stream to wash that off.

“Shinobi-san?” the old man’s voice was a croaked whisper, and Sakura wiped his hands on the bandits’ clothing, soaking up the worst of the mess.

“Old man…” Sakura murmured, frowning when he spotted the blood leaking from the elderly man’s temple. “Do you want me to heal you?” he asked, chewing on his lip when he saw the extent of the damage. _He probably didn’t have too much longer to live._

“Nay,” he murmured, voice weak. “Seems like I don’t have too much longer to live anyway… and I have nothing to protect anymore…”

Sakura closed his eyes. “I’m going to destroy those bandits,” he said, standing up. “Rest in peace, old man—”

“If…” the man croaked. “If my grandson lives… would you take care of him…? Raise him to be just as strong as you, omega?”

Stiffening, Sakura glared down at him, even as blood flecked on his lips. “How?” he demanded, crouching there next to the old man who’d just divined his true nature. “How did you know?”

“Call it an old man’s intuition,” he said, sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling. “The same kind which is telling me you know from what clan I hail… and if you don’t want to raise him yourself… could you at least take him there?” he asked, blood still leaking, skin growing more pale and ashen by the second. “You can use the gunbai, if you so desire,” he added, coughs racking his withered body as his fingers clawed at his chest. Death rattled in his throat then, and Sakura closed his eyes as the man slipped over to the Pure Lands.

“For fuck’s sake,” Sakura muttered, burying his face in his hands. “Now I’ll have three of them to look after,” he grumbled to the empty room. “As if two weren’t already enough,” he continued, grumbling even as he sealed the gunbai away with the rest of his newly acquired weapons. “Thanks for the bows, old man…” he said quietly, slipping out into the night, already knowing he would be going to beat the hell out of some bandits and probably honouring the old man’s request. _Though he would be aiming to drop both the boy and the gunbai back with the Uchiha Clan._ They would look after him much better than he could.

Smiling, he turned down an alley street, making his way back to the forest and the maze of traps he had laid out – only for his instincts to scream at him. Sakura stiffened, blinking when – instead of the attack he had been expecting, he was met with an armful of unconscious teenager. Eyebrow raised, he peered up, spying the open window, sticking to the walls with chakra as he hopped up. Peering through the window, he made a move to enter, only to freeze when he noticed the bed.

And the ropes on the headboard.

Eyes narrowing, he glanced down at the teenager’s wrists, sighing deeply when he noticed the chafe marks on her wrists and ankles. _There were two options._ Either he put her back where she had just tried to escape from or left her on the ground – near enough the same option… or he could take her to camp. _And have another troublesome omega to look after, because that was what she undoubtedly was._ He really couldn’t deal with another omega though, not with the two he already had, and the one he might wind up picking up once he dealt with the bandits…

The decision was obvious.

* * *

“Uh,” the little brunette blinked at him as they sat around the campfire. “Who’s that?” she asked, pointing at the teenager wrapped in blankets as they ate their breakfast.

“No one important,” Sakura grumbled. “Just someone I… bumped into on my way home.”

A groan sounded, and the little black-haired girl looked over at their new guest. _She was totally just a guest and not a new packmate._ Sakura was already struggling to cope with leading two. Three, and then four, would be far too much. _Omegas weren’t meant to lead._ They didn’t have the natural skill or magnetism alphas usually did. It was why one never really came across a pack made entirely from omegas. Well, Sakura had never heard of any in all his reading. _Though that didn’t mean none had existed at all._ It was just unlikely.

Especially when clans guarded them closely – them being vital to producing numerous healthy children. Clan omegas were usually treated the best, but still Sakura was grateful to have been born as a civilian in the future. _Some clans used their omegas as nothing more than breeders and stress relief._ They were a minority, but it still happened.

Sakura closed his eyes, dodging the hands which were aiming for his throat, raising one pink eyebrow at the furious teenager snarling at him. “Well… good morning to you too,” he said, ducking away as the girl swiped at his throat. _A vicious little thing or so it seemed._ “Could I ask that you stop trying to kill me already?” Sakura inquired. “I mean, I did take you away—”

“Alphas are all the same!” she snarled, teeth bared. “I know exactly you want as _payment,_ ” she spat, and Sakura’s eyebrows vanished behind the slight fringe he had acquired from various close calls with shuriken and kunai in his first few months there.

“Don’t be mean to alpha-sama!” the black-haired girl from the boat hissed, standing in front of him, and Sakura blinked yet again. “He’s nice!”

“Like hell he is,” the blonde snarled, and Sakura seated himself back down.

“You’re free to leave, you know,” Sakura said, flicking dirt out from under his fingernails. “You can go back to that town, where those men are waiting for you… that’s always an option, if you don’t want to stay out here – you know… where I haven’t even done anything to you as of yet, except wrap you in blankets to ensure you don’t freeze to death.”

“Yet,” she muttered. “You haven’t done anything _yet._ ”

Sakura snorted. “Blondie, you have any open wounds?” he asked, knowing talking to the girl was likely a lost cause. She was seventeen at most and had probably been tormented at the hands of alphas even worse than the ones he had met all those years ago. _And she had mistaken him for an alpha thanks to his wonderful ability to hide his scent._

“What’s it to you?” she demanded. “Want to inflict more?”

“Well, I was going to say there’s a river nearby, so you can wash off the filth that’s on you… but unsterilized water and wounds aren’t generally the best—”

“Where’s the river?”

Sakura rolled his eyes. “You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?” he asked softly, not expecting an answer from the sullen, suspicious girl. His green eyes flickered over her, a small sigh escaping him when he spotted the blood leaking from small cuts… as well as… Sakura shook his head. “Don’t go to the river. I’ll draw you a bath and heat up the—” Sakura felt his eye twitch as the girl stormed off to look for the river. _She was under his care now, and he couldn’t really afford to nurse her through an infection when he had bandits to be eliminating…_ and a possible baby fourth omega to pick up on the way. “Oy! Blonde brat!” he called, chasing after the angry little omega, smoothly dodging the strikes sent his way. _Like she would ever be able to best him._ “This is for your own good,” he muttered, striking the nearest pressure point, dragging a very unconscious omega back to their makeshift camp as he started making preparations for a bath. “Brats… can you go and find some firewood… or just any wood,” he asked, grateful for his knowledge of both water and earth jutsu as he formed the little tub and dried out some of the wet wood they had gathered before.

After that bath was done, he’d be able to go and earn some money, and then the dying man’s wish would no longer be looming over him.

_That sounded like a good plan to him._

Now he just needed to hurry up a bit.


	4. the darkest evening of the year

It was night-time when he found them, verdant eyes narrowed on the flickering flames of the fire at the heart of the bandits camp. There were fourteen in total, but only one drew his eye. The tall man, with a balding head, thick eyebrows, and a hungry leer. He radiated the aura of an alpha, and it roiled over all of the lesser ones in the clearing in front of the entrance to the mine.

Sakura licked his lips, fingers curling in anticipation. There were no doubts in his mind. _That was Goro._ He bared his teeth in a mockery of a grin, but the rustling of the bushes behind him made his head snap around. “What”—he hissed, careful to keep his voice down—“are you doing here?”

The blonde brat from before only snarled. “So this is the rest of your group,” she muttered, disgust lining her face as she looked between the group of bandits and him. “Is this where you make your plans to hand over me and the other two omegas?” Her hands lunged for his throat, and Sakura barely withheld the very un-omega-like growl which wanted to rip from his throat. “You bas—mph!”

He clamped his hand over her mouth, hissing in pain when she bit down on his palm. “Shut up, brat,” he growled, beyond frustrated at her tendencies to jump to conclusions. _Though considering the situation he’d found her in, it was hardly all that surprising._ “Could you stop jumping to conclusions for five fucking minutes?” Sakura wrenched his hand free, shoving her face down into the dirt as he pinned her there. “There’s a little omega boy tied to a post over there, and if you alert these bandits to our position then his safety might be compromised – because I’m here to rescue him,” he said, lips perilously close to her ear as he all but snarled his words into them. “So shut the fuck up and stay here and watch if you know what’s good for you.”

Words said, he climbed off of her, ignoring the glare she sent his way as she rubbed the back of her head and spat out a mouthful of dirt. Her teeth were sharp, though luckily enough he was capable of healing his own wounds. Shaking his head, he fixed his gaze on the small, naked figure tied to the post Sakura assumed was used when horse-drawn carriages came up to collect the mined materials.

“You’re just rescuing him so you can add him to your harem, aren’t you?” the blonde brat spoke, admittedly at a much quieter volume than before.

“Harem?” Sakura blinked, rolling his eyes at the brat he’d rescued and all her obnoxiousness. “Just shut up and stay where you are. Unless you’d prefer to get caught and end up like that boy over there. Though I’d prefer not to have to rescue you again if possible. That’d be troublesome.”

“I wouldn’t get caught by simple bastards like these!” she hissed, and Sakura rolled his eyes again. _How naïve and idealistic her thinking was for someone so civilian and untrained as she…_ It would be rather bothersome trying to keep an eye on her while she was being so standoffish and confrontational with him.

Then again, she was much older than the other two baby omegas back at camp, and that meant she’d be able to keep her mouth shut about his presentation. “Guess I’ll show you after I’ve dealt with these idiots,” he muttered, rubbing at the chakra-blocked scent glands in his neck. “Now try not to make a noise. They’ll probably start running once I’ve slaughtered half of them, and the last thing I need is them finding you and trying to use you as a hostage.”

“Tch,” she grumbled. “I’d rather die than be a part of your harem.”

Sakura only rolled his eyes, sifting through the pack on his waist, lifting out the little package of powder which he’d barely managed to acquire before he’d gone to the bandits’ hideout. His throw was accurate and fast, and the package sailed into the fire without notice. _Though considering how he’d waited for a vast majority of them to start drinking and celebrating, it wasn’t all that surprising._

There were at most ten seconds before the fire exploded and the yells started, but Sakura was already out from the cover of the bushes, several kunai and shuriken already flung from the safety of their depths before he’d moved around in the undergrowth to attack from the opposite side.

Metal sung as he drew his o katana, teeth bared in a too-wide smile, eyes wide, pupils blown back to hell as he drew blood. Sakura was all to accustomed to the resistance that came with slicing through skin and muscle, and he knew better than to waste his strength needlessly. He was familiar with his now-favourite weapon, and he used it to full efficiency right then and there.

Fourteen became five almost in the blink of an eye, but that was hardly a surprise. Bandits were more often than not little more than civilians with some fighting skills. Those were easy enough to take care of.

_Though some were rogue shinobi who took pride in being stronger than civilians._

Sakura felt his eyes widen, chakra flooding his feet as he flipped backwards entirely on instinct. Years of instincts which he’d learnt to trust.

The crude war hammer slammed into the ground where he’d once stood, and he let out an excited breath as he stared between the bulging muscles of the one who wielded it. _Goro._ Sakura giggled, eyes narrowing on the tall, muscled figure, licking his lips in anticipation. “I take it you’re Goro,” he said, voice low and dangerous.

Brown eyes narrowed. “A… female alpha…?”

Sakura’s eyebrow twitched. “I’m going to take pleasure in skewering you,” he muttered, channelling his chakra to his feet using his impeccable control. Shunshin came as easily as breathing to him, what with how often he’d used it when he’d first arrived in those times. The speed to get away from larger groups of offensive shinobi was paramount. “I wonder how fast you can move with that giant war hammer slowing you down,” he mused, blinking when the ground trembled ever so slightly under the weight of the weapon which had just pounded it.

“You must not be from around here,” Goro said, ignoring the sight as Sakura sliced through another of his minions who’d foolishly tried to attack him whilst he focused on their leader. “Otherwise you’d know better…”

Three sets of footsteps met his ears, and Sakura scowled as he realised the other three bandits left alive were charging towards him from all sides.

The mix of muddy rock and sludge under his feet made it harder to balance and turn, but that was what Sakura did, closing his eyes as he waited for the presences he could feel rushing towards him to reach the right distance. His blade sung in a neat circle, pure, lethal kenjutsu taking the three out, but Sakura had no time to admire the wonderful sight of alphas falling like dominos.

Hammer collided with blade, the clash of metal-on-metal resounding through his ears as Sakura was soon forced to relinquish his grip on his wonderful o katana. _Otherwise it would have broken or he would have sprained his wrist at the very least, both of which were things Sakura wanted to avoid._ The amount of force Goro could put behind a swing really packed a punch, and his aim had been disarming him, he realised with narrowed eyes.

“Too bad for you,” Goro said, victory gleaming in his eyes as he swung his war hammer back around lightning fast.

His strength wasn’t native to the Warring Clans Era when katana and kunai ruled. Usually once you were disarmed but your opponent still had their weapon it would be game over. Sakura smirked. “That’s my line,” he muttered, ducking beneath the blow, surging forwards, clenched fist at the ready.

He could feel muscle and rib bone give away as his knuckles sunk into Goro’s chest, the wet squelch and snap resounding in his ears as Goro went flying back. _Dead,_ Sakura knew. His ribs had caved in thank to the sheer force he had put behind the blow.

His fingers twitched in the eerie silence, the stillness of night only broken by his breathing and the soft whimpers of the boy who was barely conscious and covered in filth. Scowling at the sight, he moved towards him, only to be beaten to the post by the blonde brat. “What are you doing?” he demanded, glaring at the teenage brat who was frantically undoing the ropes binging the boy there. “Are you going to carry him back to camp?”

“Hardly,” blondie said, teeth bared, terror written all across her face as she turned to face him. “I won’t let you hurt this boy anymore! He probably has family down in the village. You don’t need him for your harem!”

Sakura felt his eyebrow twitch again, and he stepped forwards, glaring all the while.

“What?” The blonde back stepped back, careful not to step on her charge as he continued to walk towards her. “I’m not afraid of you!”

Sakura rolled his eyes, hand lashing out, careful to avoid the fingernails and teeth which tried to maul his skin as he grabbed her by the hair, pulling her face into his neck as he released the chakra blocking his glands.

“Do you want me to tear your throat out?” she snarled.

“Scent,” Sakura growled, so beyond done with the little brat. “My scent, you dumbass moron,” he said, releasing his grasp on her head as her eyes widened in realisation.

She fell to her knees, blinking blandly as she seemingly tried to comprehend what she’d just learnt thanks to his scent. Smug, Sakura walked around her, sealing his glands back up with his chakra as he gingerly reached for the boy. _He couldn’t have been older than ten, and that was younger than what he’d been…_

“Poor thing,” Sakura muttered, gathering the limp form into his arms with care, sighing quietly as he straightened up – ready to go back to camp and clean the boy up before he woke.

Hands latched onto his pant leg, and Sakura blinked at the eyes staring up at him as if he’d hung the sun. “You’re not an alpha,” blondie mumbled. “You’re an omega.”

“No shit,” Sakura said, rolling his eyes yet again. “The name’s Sakura, and _I am a man_ so don’t comment on how girly my name is… unless you want to get punched like the idiot over there,” he continued, nodding over at Goro’s crumpled form.

“Sakura-sama,” blondie said, and Sakura frowned at the awe and worship lining her voice as she spoke. “Teach me, Shishou,” she spoke, eyes shining with determination as she clung to his pant leg as though her life depended on it. “Teach me how to be as strong as you.”

“Tch.” Sakura shook his leg, trying to get her grubby paws off the material to no avail. Her grip was like a vice. “Get off and get back to camp. We can talk about things there—”

She yanked on his trousers. “No. You have to promise! I don’t want to be weak anymore.”

“Stop pulling!” Sakura yelled, eyes wide as he felt his trousers slip down over his waist, the fabric pooling around his ankles as he stood there in the wake of the destruction he had unleashed – pink and white underwear on full display.

“Sorry Shishou!” blondie yelped, reaching for his trousers. “I’ll get them—”

“I can pull up my pants by myself,” Sakura screeched, all but throwing the little omega into blondie’s arms so he could pull his trousers back up. His cheeks burnt like they were aflame, and silently, Sakura cursed the universe and the annoying little blonde omega. “Idiots, the lot of you,” he muttered, looking over at the omega who was staring at him with pleading puppy eyes. “Can you carry him back?”

“Is this the first part of my training?” blondie asked.

Sakura ran a hand through his bloodied long locks. “Ugh. Just shut up and carry him back then. I’ll need to draw him up a bath so I can treat his wounds.” Green eyes scanned blondie over, narrowing on the small cuts and scrapes still visible. “I can treat yours too, now that you’re no longer being an annoying little shit.”

“That was only because you were so amazing at concealing your scent, Shishou!” blondie declared, as though she hadn’t been hating his guts some ten or so minutes ago. “Will you teach me how to do that too?”

Sakura groaned. “I’m so totally dumping you off in the next respectable village we come across,” he muttered, shivering under the stare of those pleading puppy eyes as he led the way back to their camp.

 _At least the old man could rest in peace,_ Sakura mused, staring at the inky black mop of hair. It was the same inky black as Sasuke’s had been. His eyes narrowed, and he turned to face forwards with a scowl. _He didn’t need to think of Sasuke._ That girl was behind him now.

“Shishou, is there such a thing as a respectable village?” blondie asked, and Sakura clicked his tongue. _There wasn’t just yet, but the idiot teenager didn’t need to know that just yet._

“Hurry up,” he grumbled, increasing his pace as he trekked back through the forest. “The sooner both of your wounds are properly treated, the better.”


	5. of easy wind and downy flake

The paste he’d made from scratch wasn’t as good as the disinfectant he was used to, but it would do the job, or so he decided. The largest wounds on both the annoying blonde’s body and the little boy’s had been healed with the mystic palm technique, which left the smaller scrapes and cuts that had to be dealt with via more mundane methods.

Sighing quietly, he dipped his fingers into the tin, covering the last minor scrape on blondie’s back with the green gunk. “You’re done,” he said, turning away.

Blondie blinked. “But my chest and legs—”

“Are areas you can reach yourself, dumbass,” Sakura grumbled, rolling his eyes as he jammed the tin into her hands. “Don’t waste it.”

“Will you teach me how to make it?” blondie asked.

Sakura nodded, turning only when he heard a weak groan from the bundle of blankets nearby the brunette and black-haired one. _At least the boy would survive the coming night._ Though that was all but a given with his medical ninjutsu. He could treat those extent of injuries even without a hospital at his beck and call.

“Uh, alpha-sama?” the little black-haired girl spoke up, and Sakura almost bared his teeth at the word. _It reminded him of everything he hated._

“The name’s Sakura, brat,” he grumbled. “Use it.”

“Sakura-sama,” the girl repeated, a smile on her face as she did so. “Can we help with preparing dinner?” she asked, blinking up at him pleadingly, and Sakura blinked as he recognised it. _Both the intention behind it, and the fact he was completely and utterly weak to the pleading eyes of a fellow omega._

Omegas liked to _provide_ , though more often than not that meant providing meals from their alpha’s hunt _._ They liked to cook and ensure those they considered to be their pack were safe and well. _Basically they mothered the hell out of them and fussed a lot_. Sakura frowned. _It wasn’t like they were actually a little pack._ Packs needed an alpha to lead them, and Sakura was anything but that. _Besides, it wasn’t like he was mothering any of them._ He was just teaching them the skills they would need to survive, and then he’d be sending them out into the world.

Nodding, he set about making dinner, silently relaxing in the blissful silence only broken by the occasional question from the two small omegas sitting on the log in front of the campfire they had made. It was a simple dinner, made from the berries foraged and the meat caught in the traps they had set up previously.

In the meantime all he needed to do was channel his inner grumpiness and general bitchiness. _Aka his inner Uchiha Sasuke._ He scoffed at the thought. _He hated that girl – despised the very thought of her._ But he supposed it was partially her fault he was there. If they had actually included him… if they hadn’t left him behind… then he never would have taken the mission which had landed him in the Warring Clans Era. His lip curled, but he just shook his head, casting those thoughts aside. As if now was the time to be thinking of _them, and all the ways they made his stomach twist._ He only hoped they were disgustingly happy back in the future.

Though he had probably created a branching timeline, thanks to his wonderful trip to the past. _Either that, or he just passed into anonymity there._ He curled his hands into fists, leather of his gloves creaking as he did so. _He was hardly going to fade into anonymity._ A wicked grin curled at his lips.

“Shishou, have you set the traps for tonight?” blondie barked, sounding alarmingly enthusiastic, which had the smile slipping from his face in an instant. _She sounded far too happy, as she had about everything once she’d learnt he was an omega._ Personally, he wouldn’t have minded throttling her then and there to shut her up, but he couldn’t bring himself to harm another omega. _No matter how much she was grating on his nerves._

“Yes, now shut up and go to sleep, moron,” he grumbled, getting up once more to check on the little boy they had rescued that very evening. He was wrapped up in some of the furs he had gathered on his journey there, only his head poking out from the blankets of fluff.

Two sets of doe brown eyes blinked back at him from either side of the small boy, the two girls sleeping either side of him as he had suggested they should. _It would only be a comfort to him – to have two other omegas there to snuggle with. Two other small omegas to tell him that everything was going to be alright now._ He knew he could have used some support like that.

Instead he had been around three alphas when he had woken up from _that_ ordeal. _Three unsympathetic bastards who didn’t understand for the life of him what he’d just been through._ Three scents which hadn’t smelt remotely comforting, and a girl who had shoved him away whenever he had tried to seek comfort from her. _Innocent comfort, with no romantic attachments,_ he meant. Though clearly she hadn’t been able to tell the difference. _She had been a shitty alpha._ Though he supposed she now had Naruto’s sunshine personality to offset that. Closing his eyes, he sat back, pulling the furs of his bedding around as he curled up in their embrace. Now he could get some sleep, and then it would be on with—

The shuffling of furs, and familiar grunts of exertion reached him, and Sakura cracked one eye open. Only to find himself face to face with blondie. Blue eyes stared into his green ones, and Sakura only sighed deeply. “What are you doing?” he snapped, glaring daggers at her as she snuggled up in the furs he’d provided only a meter away. _Instead of the healthy five they had started out with._

“Nothing, shishou!”

Sakura clicked his tongue. “Then stop moving about and get some damned sleep, dumbass,” he said, snuggling back into the furs surrounding him as he settled in for a peaceful night. _It would probably be one of the last he would get, seeing as he was heading into shinobi-heavy areas._ He would need to teach them how to set watches…

His brow furrowed as he thought on it, eyes closed as he pondered on that problem. _Because unless the brat was somewhat trained… she would probably fail to spot a threat and react in time…_ Sakura bit his lip, scowling as he rubbed his cheek against the soft fluff he loved a lot more than he would ever let on. It was why he had been so careful with cleaning them. _Careful not to let blood drip on them and stain the wonderful fluffiness with red clumps and the scent of iron and rust._ Blood wasn’t appropriate on his bedding, so blood-free he would keep it.

But that didn’t help him figure out what he should do about setting watches once they reached the more shinobi-infested areas. It wasn’t like he could summon slugs anymore. His contract with them had been severed the minute he crossed through time and space to land where he had, so he could just ask—

His eyes snapped open.

 _That was it – the answer to all of his problems._ He just needed to form a contract with summons. Seeing as there weren’t any scrolls available to him, he would just have to do it the highly dangerous way and reverse summon himself to the realm of summons most suited to his chakra.

 _He’d be able to see Katsuya again._ A smile curled at his lips. _Not to mention he’d be able to restart his research into removing the side-effect of the Yin Seal._ As long as he could achieve Sage Mode, or some semblance of it… The answers would be within reach soon enough.

Though he’d have to reverse summon himself soon, given how they were in a fairly safe area. _But he’d have to stock up on food and ensure they had the rudimentary survival skills down before he did so._ There was no telling how long he would be in the summons’ realm for, and he couldn’t just leave them there without a way to get food or water.

“Ugh,” he groaned. _He was totally going to have to improve their lessons on traps – they’d need to be able to disable them and place them back while he was away._ So maybe he’d be able to reverse summon himself in about a week’s time then? “Brilliant,” he muttered. “Just brilliant…”

* * *

His eye twitched as he watched blondie try and gain access to her chakra. _Something she should have ideally done years before…_ but Sakura could only work with what he had. “Concentrate,” he reminded, ignoring the sounds of the bowstring snapping taut as one of the smaller omegas practiced her archery skills. _The ones he’d taught her that morning whilst blondie had still been digesting basic chakra theory._ The little brown-haired omega was just sitting by the boy, waiting for him to wake up as she practiced her letters. He had almost forgotten about the poorer literacy rate in the Warring Clans Era until he had found the two younger omegas staring blankly with evident confusion pulling at their lips as they tried to read the writing in the book of herbs and plants native to the Land of Fire he’d given them.

Silently he prayed his summons would be able to help him with teaching the basic things such as that. _He would almost definitely end up with the slugs again._ Sakura only prayed he could pass whatever test they set and prove himself worthy as a summoner. There were always tests for the first-time bearers who had crossed into the summons’ territory. Tsunade had told him about that, though sadly she hadn’t known much, having had the scroll passed down through her family for generations. Generations upon generations, stretching all the way back to a time when history wasn’t written down, and instead passed on via word of mouth. The kind of history which had been lost. So there was no information about the trial of the slugs. But generations of Senju had then come to an end. _And given she was the last Senju, and she had no children, she had decided upon Sakura becoming her heir to everything, from techniques to name._ But the Elders had complained. _An omega inheriting that?_ Sakura scowled at the memory. _How he would have loved to punch their skulls in – but alas… that would have been treason._ Enjoyable treason, but treason nonetheless.

Instead, the Senju name would either die out, or crop up in the Uzumaki lineage, given how much Senju blood had mixed into their bloodline over the years. _Not to mention he wasn’t even there to inherit it from her… they hadn’t spoken much before he’d went out on that mission…_

Sakura sighed, glancing between his pac—charges. _They were only his charges._ He didn’t care enough to call them pack, and they could hardly be called a pack without an alpha figure to lead them. _Not that Sakura would let any alpha get too close to any of them._ A growl rumbled in his throat at the thought.

The bowstring sung again, and Sakura allowed himself a smile as he saw the little black-haired brat hitting the assigned target again and again. _She was a natural with the bow,_ Sakura decided. Now she only had to improve on her stealth abilities and her aim when it came to moving targets, but she could begin practicing that later – when Sakura dragged her out to help him hunt down one of the deer native to that region.

That would last them a decent amount of time, especially with the preservative effect of the leaves he’d found in his foraging. They would just need to wrap the meat inside, and it would last a little longer than usual. _The cold climate would only aid them too._

Now he just needed to teach them rudimentary cooking skills _and how to restart the fire,_ just in case it went out. They wouldn’t freeze. He wouldn’t allow it. Though the nest of furs littered about their temporary camp would probably allow them to stave off the cold should they be left without flame. His only worry was the genjutsu placed to cloak the fire from the town locals – just in case they dared to venture into the forest.

But it wasn’t like he could teach one of them how to cast genjutsu. Blondie was the only one even beginning to gain access to the world of chakra moulding. He would just have to hope for the best. _And tear the throat out of any idiot who dared to even trespass on his territory once he came back._

Violence was the best kind of warning for those kinds.

“Shishou!”

“Ugh,” Sakura grunted, turning to face his least favourite omega in their little group. “What is it now?”

“I did it!” she called, lifting her head from the ground, revealing a leaf stuck to her forehead like it had been glued in place. Peering closely, Sakura nodded, acknowledging that the brat had actually picked up the art of chakra use and manipulation at a rather terrifying pace. Though she was an adult – able to understand instructions much better than a child surrounded by a bunch full of rowdy agemates screaming at each other.

“Right. Onto the next step then,” he said, folding his arms as he glared down at her.

Blondie blinked. “What about dinner?” she asked, and Sakura blinked as he heard the sound of her stomach rumbling.

“After you’ve completed this next exercise,” he remarked. _They didn’t have time to waste, after all._ The quicker he got his summons, the better. _Then he’d be able to focus on his Yin Seal for a short while… and hopefully figure something out._ He was almost there – almost to another breakthrough – and he would be damned if he let time travel interfere with that.


	6. he will not see me stopping here

Sakura glared at the piles of foodstuffs he had managed to collect over the past few days, wrapped in preservative leaves and half buried in snow as the sun dipped below the horizon. “It’s better to overcook your meat than to undercook it,” he said, reminding them once again, folding his arms as he stared between the four of them, his gaze losing the hard edge as he stared at the shivering boy wrapped up in his furs. _He hated to be leaving the little one so soon, but the sooner he got his summons, the better._ “I expect all of you to be alive and well when I return, otherwise _there will be consequences,_ understood?”

“Yes, Shishou!” Blondie barked, standing that much straighter when he levelled a stare her way. “I will look after everyone here until your safe return.”

Sakura blinked placidly. “See that you do,” he said, staring at the annoyance, a sliver of mirth making his lips twitch into a sardonic grin as she stared back at him unflinchingly. _She would do well in the future,_ Sakura could tell. “If you’ve done well enough I will start to teach you higher levels of chakra manipulation.”

Blondie’s eyes gleamed, and Sakura only sighed quietly, silently praying the latest addition to his charges would be alright for the short duration he would be away for. He hadn’t seemed too eager to escape, unlike blondie when she had first woken there, which was handy given the situation. _He would hopefully be able to start teaching the boy some basic survival skills once he returned._ Then it would be heading down the country and into the Land of Fire to visit the Uchiha and drop him off. _Then to find the brunette’s clan and dump her and possibly her friend off…_ Well, so long as the clan was half-decent. He would need to check before leaving her with them, just so he didn’t worry over their fates. _Not that he would worry that much, of course._

Silently, Sakura prayed that they wouldn’t be accosted too much. _Exposure to blood and gore wasn’t good for little omegas unless they were determined to take the path of a shinobi._

“Very well then,” he said, moulding his chakra as he began the series of hand seals needed to reverse summon himself to the realm most suited to him. “I will be on my way. Stay safe.”

Blondie didn’t even have the chance to reply before the world around him vanished in a puff of white smoke.

* * *

Darkness surrounded him like a cloak, a moon hanging high in the sky, illuminating the forest clearing which he had landed in. Water stirred next to him, the silvery surface rippling, but it was just the wind raking over the surface. His hopeful summons was undoubtedly a forest-based creature, and more importantly _not Katsuya._ And there he’d been, so certain he’d wind up with the slugs again… purely because they suited him. _But the main contract was already in the hands of the Senju so perhaps it was for the best he was somewhere unknown._ He swallowed, suddenly far too aware of how silent the entire forest was. It was too still. Unnaturally so.

Wind whistled again, rustling the dark leaves, and suddenly Sakura wished he hadn’t been so impatient and had waited for daybreak. _Though if his summons-to-be were nocturnal…_ He tilted his head. “Well there’s no time like the present,” he muttered, striding into the forest with nary a whisper of sound following him.

Dry leaves and brittle branches made no sound as he walked over them with chakra-coated feet, his each step cushioned as he snuck into the forest. An owl hooted nearby, and Sakura frowned. _Perhaps a bird of some sort?_ he mused, tilting his head as he kept his eyes peeled and his senses sharp. _Because there would undoubtedly be a test to see if he was worthy of a contract._ Though first he had to find the creature in question.

Dimly, one of Tsunade’s old warnings came to mind – one from when he had been deciding between finding his own contract or taking up the slugs’ own.

 _“Listen here, Sakura-kun, a summons’s realm isn’t necessarily home to only one kind of creature,”_ Tsunade had told him, expression grim _. “Sometimes different creatures band together rather than trying to destroy the other to claim their sanctuary… but bear in mind it makes it ten times harder to obtain the contracts, since you’ll be offered both.”_ Her hands busied themselves with paperwork, but the slight tremble in them made Sakura nervous. _“I hate to say this, but given your dual earth-water nature, you would likely be pulled towards one of these.”_

Silently, for sheer ease, he hoped there would only be one summons – likely of an earthen nature, given the forest he was stuck in. _If he had a more dominant earth nature, he would have been fine._ As it was he had earth and water in exactly equal quantities.

Sadly, he was missing the spark of life which gave birth to mokuton techniques, but then again he wasn’t a Senju or one of Orochimaru’s experiments. Hashirama and Yamato could keep their mokuton. _And their annoying alpha-ness to themselves._

The hairs on the back of his neck lifted then, tension flooding through him as he felt eyes on him. They bore into him like kunai, and he couldn’t see anyone or anything around him. _All directions,_ he reminded himself, checking behind him then. _Underground?_ His eyes narrowed, remembering Kakashi and the second bell test. _Or above?_ He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes darting up to the treeline.

Eyes gleamed in the moonlight, pupils swallowed up by the golden iris, and Sakura swallowed as his probable summons leapt down from the tree. His hands curled into fists, body tensing in preparation for a fight as he realised exactly what kind of creature stood in front of him proudly.

A big cat, sleek, with fur of an inky black. _A panther._

“This wouldn’t happen to be the realm of your kind, would it?” he enquired, a small, terrified part of his brain screaming when the panther flashed a set of sharp, white teeth in a mockery of a grin.

“Another challenger?”

Sakura swallowed. “Another?”

“We don’t get many,” the panther answered, voice undoubtedly male. “The last was many years ago, and he was a male much taller than yourself.”

Sakura felt his eye twitch. _So he was a bit on the short side… so what?_ That hardly mattered. He was an omega, and they were generally shorter than their alpha counterparts of the same sex as them. “Might I have your name and some information as to what challenge I will have to partake in,” he said, folding his arms as he heard the soft pad of leathery paws in the trees above them.

“Hyouto,” he replied, that terrifying grin reappearing on the panther’s face. _Sakura ignored the part of him which saw that and made grabby hands._ Panthers would be utterly terrifying summons he decided right then and there. _He wanted them._

“Sakura,” he offered, waiting then for the panther to answer the last part of his query.

Teeth gleamed once more in the moonlight, and Sakura could only bare his own teeth in a mockery of a smile as he imagined those sharp, gleaming fangs ripping through any who dared to hurt him or what was his. _His annoying charges, who were no doubt waiting for him to come back._ Sakura couldn’t let them down. He wouldn’t. Not the way he had been let down some years into the future. _Though it wasn’t likely to be his future anymore,_ he reminded himself. _He had likely created a branching timeline, so there was no need to worry about any of that in the future._

He could show those irritating alphas exactly who was boss… _make them fear the title of omega for once._ His fingers rubbed at the grip of his o katana, the action having become something of a habit whenever he thought of alphas. _His precious o katana was perfect for skewering the idiot alphas, not the nice ones like Tsunade though…_ She had been proof there were still some half-decent alphas here and there.

“Ah, you wish to know about the challenge,” Hyouto remarked, seemingly having taken a few moments to remember his enquiry. “It is fairly simple, though none have ever successfully completed both of them. Precious few finish the first, but none have yet to pass the second trial.”

“With the first trial being…?”

Those teeth flashed again. “You simply need to make it to the home of our mother, Hyoshiko, in one piece,” Hyouto said, circling him then, looking him up and down with those golden eyes of his. “She waits through the forest, the way you’ve been headed, across the river, at the very top of the cliff is where she watches over us from.”

Sakura felt his eyes narrow. “That sounds… suspiciously easy,” he said, squinting at the panther, shivers rolling down his spine at the sounds of the chuckle which rumbled from Hyouto’s throat. “So I go through the forest while being chased by every single panther who’ll be trying to kill me…”

“Correct.”

“Then I cross the river…” he trailed off. “There wouldn’t happen to be a bridge I could use, would there?”

Hyouto only laughed again. “Not one _you_ can use,” he said, and Sakura felt resignation slam a fist into his gut as he realised exactly where the catch was in this so-called test of the panthers. _It wasn’t just the panthers’ test._

“This is a dual summoning realm, isn’t it?” Sakura folded his arms. “What awaits me in the waters? I presume the beings which reside there are what’s resulted in your contract also remaining unclaimed for so long…” There hadn’t been any word of panther contracts even in the future, and the Uchiha Clan had been collectors of every single possible cat contract.

“Well, aren’t you a smart one?” Golden eyes gleamed with mirth, and Sakura reminded himself that not a lot of people tended to question before acting. Alphas were annoyingly headstrong like that, and they tended to be the ones to go after summoning contracts. _They leapt before they looked more often than not._ Or the stupid ones did. _Sakura hadn’t met many who he didn’t classify as such._ Though admittedly he might have been biased because he was an omega. _Not that he gave two shits about what others thought about that._

 _If he’d listened to everything people thought about him and acted on it_ … Sakura felt his lip curl. _He’d probably be at home, being a good omega and looking after an increasing gaggle of children._ Thoughts of blondie and the other three baby omegas sprung to mind then, and he shook his head, clearing those thoughts away. He had a summoning contract he needed to win. Well, _two_ summoning contracts to claim.

“They are a much older species than we, and since they only reside in water, our claw came to an agreement with them,” Hyouto explained, circling him then, the creaking of branches above him reminding him of the presence of Hyouto’s fellows. “They have never taken a summoner due to being very selective, and very vicious as well. They came to an agreement with mother about what qualities our summoner should have…”

“Any clues?” Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Hyouto chuckled. “No.”

He shrugged. _It had been worth a shot._ “You still haven’t told me exactly what this _older species_ is exactly,” he said, mulling over all the possibilities. _He prayed it wasn’t sharks or whales – some of the deadliest water creatures which had been known to take out the occasional careless shinobi or two._

“They’ve had many names over the years.” Sakura thought he saw the panther shrug. _If cats could do that._ Sakura wasn’t entirely sure. “Some have called them sea snakes, monsters of the deep, water dragons, typhoon bringers, seaborn calamities… the list goes on and on, but those should give you the picture.”

Sakura blinked. “Water… dragons…?” he echoed slowly, swallowing at the images that brought to mind. “Seaborn calamities…” His shoulders sunk. “Oh goodie. Brilliant. Just brilliant.” _The universe loved him._ He tilted his head, throat dry as he swallowed harshly. “Panthers and sea dragons… what a combination…”

Hyouto laughed at his expense. “Yes. It is… but we make it work, surprisingly enough.”

Silently, Sakura was glad he had taken up the slug contract before instead of risking summoning himself to this realm. _If he had tried this before… there would have been no doubt he would have charged in, longing to impress Sasuke._ He let out a long breath. _He had to get this summoning contract though – the need was still there._ There was no other choice. _Even if he backed out… he would only re-summon himself back there when he attempted it once more._ He needed a summons to guide him on sage mode too, for his seal. “Nothing in my life can ever be easy, can it?” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to gather his thoughts.

It seemed getting his hands on a summoning contract was going to be much deadlier and difficult than he anticipated.

“Will you still attempt it?” Hyouto enquired, sitting back on his haunches, tilting his head as he stared at him levelly, tail flicking behind him in anticipation. “Knowing all that…”

Sakura sighed softly. “I need a contract. I need someone I can entrust me back to,” he said. “To obtain that, I just need to run in that direction, don’t I?” He pointed the way he had been travelling. “And not die while I’m at it…”

Hyouto’s fangs gleamed in the moonlight slipping through the leafy canopy above them. “Do you wish to begin your challenge then?”

“Well, it would probably be better to wait until morning, but something tells me you won’t wait that long,” he said, shrugging as he secured his bag to his back that much tighter. Stretching out his arms, he pulled his topmost layer off, revealing the skin-tight black vest he wore underneath. _He might need to swim, if his instincts were telling him anything useful, and having the slightly loose changshan floating about would only impede him there._

Not to mention black was a better colour to be wearing than red. Or so he figured, given the inky black fur of the panthers who would soon be baying for his blood.

* * *

Branches whipped at his legs as he sprinted through the forest, occasionally ducking whenever the air shifted above him. Panthers would make excellent summons, he decided right then and there. _They were also fucking terrifying opponents in the middle of a dark forest they knew like the backs of their paws._ Chakra pulsed in his feet, sticking and propelling the bottoms of his sandals to the trees whenever he decided to spring from them to avoid the black-furred bodies which attempted to take out his legs. _Or at least injure them and thereby make him slow down._

Panthers weren’t stupid – well, panther summons weren’t, as he was discovering. It was no wonder nobody had managed to claim their contract. _And he still had the bloody so-called water dragons to go._ He was only grateful Tsunade’s insane dodging course had paid off right then and there. Otherwise he would never have been able to dodge the graceful cats as they tried to tear him to pieces.

In the distance, he could hear Hyouto guiding his fellow cats to better ambush and attack him. _Any feelings of gratitude towards the panther who’d told him all that he needed to know were swiftly snuffed out._ His laughter was downright creepy in that forest, what with how it seemed to echo. _But everything would be alright,_ or so Sakura told himself. _He refused to get psyched out by a damned panther._

Dimly, Sakura wondered how big the eerie forest was – _how big the realm he had found himself in was_ – and prayed he would find this river and cross it soon. His chakra reserves weren’t infinite, no matter how he wished they were. _Not that he felt particularly drained, thanks to his perfect control._ Scowling, he silently cursed panthers and whatever sea-dragon-monstrosities awaited him ahead.

It was what he got for desiring a scarier looking summon than slugs. Undergrowth rustled as he charged onwards, moonlight and chakra-enhanced eyesight being his only guide through the gauntlet of panthers – soon to be sea serpents as well.

Trees became less clustered together as he ran onward, careful to stay running in a relatively straight line. The treeline was thinning… Sakura only hoped it wasn’t yet another field of long grass or a simple clearing as it had been the few times before. His ears strained, chakra enhancing that particular sense too, and a smile broke out on his face as he heard the sounds of water rushing a little ways ahead.

_A river._

Sakura skidded to a stop, freezing for a moment when the _river_ came into view. “That is _not_ a river,” he muttered, staring at the literal sea of water between him and the far shore. The sounds of panthers chasing him had him hesitantly plodding out onto the waters.

They were an inky black, flooding along the far too wide river, from the wider lake… or was it the sea? Sakura tilted his head, glancing back and forth between the forest behind him and the expanse of pitch black waters which awaited him.

“I would get moving if I were you.” Hyouto’s voice made him turn on the waters, staring into those golden eyes which seemed to gleam in the light. “Leviathan is waking, and he is the toughest of the serpents to pass… and my fellows are already crossing the bridge upstream in order to cut you off…”

“Good to know,” Sakura remarked, water splashing mutedly as he hurried out into the waters. His eyes were fixed on the inky darkness beneath him, heart pounding in his chest as he ran across the river like his life depended on it. _It did._ He was barely a quarter of the way across the wide river when the waters underneath him shifted and years of instincts screamed at him to move with gusto.

Leaping forwards, the waters behind him erupted seconds later, dark scales glistening in the moonlight, water flecking from the pointed spines which seemed to ripple as the sleek head of the serpent-like being crashed back down into the water with an ear-splitting screech. Sakura had barely caught sight of the sharp, dangerous teeth before the figure had been swallowed back up by the churning waters. Grateful for his stellar chakra control, Sakura sprinted over the water, cursing silently when the waters around him started moving before similarly scaled creatures broke from the surface.

They were ghastfully beautiful, scales varying shades of black and possibly blue – he couldn’t tell with the absence of decent lighting. Some had thick scales, others having pointed black spines flaring with the movement of the long bodies of coiled muscle. Fins flared out from their dragon-like heads, painted a paler colour than their dark bodies. It only served to make his prospective summons look that much larger. _Which wouldn’t be all that helpful, given they would need large bodies of water to be summoned properly._ Fire County didn’t have those required bodies of water. _Not that he was about to give up on earning them as one of his summons._ They came _with_ panthers, after all. _But first he needed to get past them, and quickly too._

The river only grew that much more chaotic, the waters moving too much to tell when another sea serpent was coming up. _He hated the stupid test already._ Why couldn’t it have been friendlier? Why did everything want to try and kill him before he signed the contract?

Panthers and sea serpents were an odd combination. _A terrifying combination to face in the home territory at night-time… which was exactly what he was doing._ Why sea serpents though? _Out of everything he could’ve come face to face with as a possibility for a summon did it have to be a creature lost to myth and legend?_ Sure, he had heard of people with rare contracts, but Sakura was fairly certain this took the cake. _Which just meant more people would try to kill him when word got out._ Scowling, Sakura hurried onwards, trying not to linger on the implications of the possible contracts he had stumbled into. _He had bigger things to do – like try to survive the hellish waters he was stuck on._

A hiss startled him, curses slipping from his lips as he all but dived out of the way of the next serpent which tried to drag him into the choppy waters. _Or swallow him whole._ He wasn’t too sure of what their goals were.

Pain throbbed through his arm, yet more obscenities prying their way from his lips as he spied how much damage a single large spine had done to his arm. _It had just been a glancing blow too_. Sea serpents were beautiful, yes – Sakura could appreciate that much. _Though he’d appreciate it more once he was safely on the shores of the other bank._ A brief check of the banks told him he had just passed the halfway mark, and Sakura swore for what had to be the thousandth time that evening.

Blood leaked down his arm, dripping into the waters below, but rather than exciting the serpents into attacking him it, strangely enough, had the opposite effect. As one, the sea serpents fled back down into the water, leaving Sakura to puzzle over the apparent good fortune which had come his way and continue his sprint for the bank.

A crackle of lightning had his head snapping around though, and Sakura had a single instant to come to a realisation. _So that was the real reason why they had fled under the waters,_ he mused in a split second as he took in the sight of the gargantuan dragon head above the inky waters. Lightning was crackling between its open jaws, chilling Sakura’s blood as he realised it was an area attack, and an extremely powerful one at that.

_And there was no cover around._

It felt like his life was flashing before his eyes as he stared at the lethal attack which would be headed his way. _“Kaa-chan…”_ his childish voice flooded through him. _“Why don’t the fish die when lightning strikes the water?”_ he had asked, staring out at the deep koi pond in their garden as thunder rumbled in the background.

 _“Well you see, Sakura-kun, when lightning strikes, the charge dissipates along the surface of the water more than it penetrates beneath, so the fish that swim deeper are less likely to be electrocuted,”_ his mother’s voice rang in his ears, an odd high pitched sound drowning out the sounds of his childhood memories.

_"You’re so smart, kaa-chan!”_

A hand had patted his head then, ruffling the short fluffy pink locks which had grown out from the waifish wisps which had once barely covered his head. _“Aren’t you glad you take after me in that respect, Sakura-kun…”_

Sakura pulled his chakra back to its core, hating the fact he wasn’t practiced with wind nature transformation – the one whose techniques beat lightning-based ones – as the solid surface he was standing on became liquid with the removal of his chakra.

Inky waters closed over his head, weight dragging him down into the nest of sea serpents below as the world above his head exploded with light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AVOID water in the event of thunder and lightning, folks.
> 
> And as for why there are sea serpents... I got the idea of a 'dual-summoning-realm' and was thinking that panthers don't seem all about that sage-mode... ergo I used the first water based creature I could think of which seemed like a decent kind for having a 'sage mode'.
> 
> I like dragons. Don't judge me.
> 
> (I literally have an OC fic called 'A Dragon's Hoard' so if that didn't tip you off I don't know what will.)
> 
> And there are imposed limitations on them, so don't be like 'that's way too overpowered thatdamnuchiha'.


	7. between the woods and frozen lake

Darkness.

Sakura kicked out with his legs, lungs full of air as he regained his bearings in an instant in the murky waters. It was blackness as far as his eyes could see, with the occasional flicker of scales in the dim moonlit waters. He had four metres of visibility at most in any direction, and that was with his chakra pulsing in his eyes as strong as he dared – enhancing his vision, and his ability to see the deadly waters around him. He wasted no time in getting back to the task at hand, keeping himself under the water for longer, fearing the charged surface above. _Would it be charged still? Would it electrocute him if he dared to swim upwards?_

He didn’t know, and he didn’t particularly want to find out, so swimming through serpent infested waters it was. His heart pulsed in his throat, a muffled exclamation escaping him as he dived out of the way of a flash of white teeth. Bubbles of precious air escaped him, and Sakura only clamped his lips together that much tighter. Shinobi had excellent breath capacities, but the longer he had, the better, what with the strenuous, heart-racing, aquatic dodging manoeuvres he knew the next few minutes would be filled with.

As if on cue, a thick, scaled body slammed into his side, nearly beating the air out of him. Spines pricked his skin, blood leaking out into the water, pain throbbing up one side. He ignored it as best he could, swimming onwards, kicking his legs to push himself that much closer to the surface as he cleared the area where the lightning had struck. He wouldn’t allow the serpents to drive him deeper – where no doubt more of them lay in wait. The sooner he reached the surface and the bank, the better.

Teeth snapped at his heels, terror sending adrenaline racing through him, giving him the extra push he needed to reach the shallows. Silently he prayed Leviathan wasn’t about to unleash another lightning-based attack – or, at least, he assumed it was that particular sea serpent Hyouto had warned him of. It certain seemed as though that was the toughest of the so-called water dragons to pass.

The feel of the water moving beneath him had his hands breaking the surface, chakra supporting him on the water’s surface as he flipped himself up and out of the dark waters, tilting his head back as the giant, scaled body broke free from the waters, teeth snapping to a close a hairsbreadth from his face. Spines flexed then, as if alive, slicing into his forehead.

Blood trickled down, and Sakura launched himself away then, one hand furiously wiping at the blood before it could dribble down into his eye. That would sting. _And make him swear colourfully again._ Gathering his chakra, his fingers let loose the familiar green which accompanied the techniques involving any sort of medical chakra. Stopping the blood from leaking out was simple enough – and so luckily he had it done before a black shape leapt at him from the shore. Throwing himself forwards, he cursed, moonlight glinting off the jewel-like eyes of the cats in front of him.

“Fuck.”

They had cut him off. _Not like that would stop him,_ Sakura mused, gathering chakra to his fist, slamming his hand down into the earth. The ground shook, like it always did whenever he used his so-called _monstrous_ strength. His lip curled at the memory of how Naruto had described it. His arms were slender still, but wonderfully muscled and defined – one of the drawbacks of being an omega meaning he would never be as buff as an alpha counterpart.

Still, it wasn’t like there would be any alpha who could beat him in a contest of strength. Sakura smirked, propelling himself into the trees, using the branches above – narrowly avoiding the few cats waiting for him up there. They leapt, like dark phantoms in the night. But Sakura had just swum through serpent infested waters, and he’d made it alive, despite him being more comfortable on land and atop water. _Like hell a few panthers would stop him there._

A snarl left his lips, guttural and feral, and Sakura blinked as Hyouto’s voice echoed through the trees. “Scatter!” the panther roared, and Sakura snapped his head around, senses tingling. The air almost electric – and for a good reason.

“Stupid Leviathan,” Sakura hissed, eyes narrowing on the stray panther who was straggling behind – and no doubt far too close to him. _They were going to be his summons,_ he knew, so he wasted no time in grabbing a hold of the limping panther and substituting them both with a log as lightning blasted through the woods and the spot they had been in a matter of seconds before. _A close call, as per usual._ He’d had far too many of those—

Teeth sunk into his arm then, and Sakura felt his eyebrow twitch as he freed himself from the jaws of the panther he had just rescued from a nasty death.

“Fuck you to, ungrateful little shit,” he muttered, pushing the oversized housecat away from him. _They didn’t deserve to be called a panther after that stunt, or so he decided._ Chakra pulsed in his feet, heart pounding as he spied his destination ahead – a small gathering spot atop the cliff, stones larger than his entire body scattered about the place, providing many a perch for the cats the forest was home to.

There waited the panthers’ mother. _Hyoshiko,_ if he remembered rightly. She was a giant being, the size of a regular boss summon, meaning when she stood she would be at least four times his height, if not more. Eyes the size of his head narrowed when she spied his approach, and dimly, Sakura prayed she wasn’t about to try and stop him from reaching his destination. _That would be plain cruel,_ or so part of him cried out inside his mind.

Fortunately for him, she didn’t, so Sakura was free to skid into the clearing, feet leaving deep furrows in the grass and stone behind him as he bled off the speed. “Made it,” he informed the boss panther summon tartly. “The second challenge?” he enquired, shuddering as a large, scaled head rested itself down in the deep V-shaped crack at the very edge of the cliff.

Chuckles rent the air, and Sakura was treated to the sight of the boss panther rising to her feet in order to prowl around him in a circle. _Like she was circling prey._ Swallowing, Sakura felt his attention flicker over to the lightning-spitting water dragon. Leviathan’s size equalled Hyoshiko’s, though Sakura knew their body would no doubt be that much longer – what with them being a serpent and all. The cliff wasn’t small, and a greater portion of their body would have to be in the water for them to be able to rest there so comfortably. Either that or they had some sort of legs gripping the cliffside, but Sakura hadn’t seen any sign of legs whilst in the water with the rest of their kin. _So absolutely massive, the sea serpent undoubtedly was._

“Or am I unworthy?” he asked, green eyes flickering between the startlingly storm grey ones of Leviathan, and the black ones belonging to the panther boss. His heart raced then, a small part of him fearing they would deem him unworthy. _And kill him._ His eyes narrowed. _They could certainly try._

“Oh no, little cub,” Hyoshiko rumbled. “You’ve certainly proven yourself worthy of the second challenge. But do you really want to take it?” she questioned, lips pulling back to reveal her teeth in a mockery of a smile.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to take it,” he said, folding his arms then, scanning the forest around them, waiting with anticipation for the other panthers and serpents to reveal themselves. _Or perhaps they weren’t involved with the second challenge?_ Sakura tilted his head.

“It’s a test of loyalty,” she said, giant paw landing far too close to him as she lowered herself closer to his level. “You smell of others you see,” the boss panther continued, and Sakura felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick. “You need to be loyal to us.”

“What do I have to do?” he asked, teeth gritted at the foreboding he felt.

“Simple,” Hyoshiko said with that mocking smile of hers. “Kill the ones you call pack, and we will welcome you as one of our own. One of the claw.” She prowled around him, lethal grace in every single movement. “Or would you rather die here and now?”

Sakura blinked, the words taking a moment to settle in. “What?” he echoed, feeling oddly numb as he stumbled away from the boss panther. “What’s that supposed to mean?” his words came out as a snarl, face contorting with rage. _How dare she ask him to kill the little lives under his care!_ His hands shook, gaze flickering between the sharp teeth of the boss panther and the boss serpent summon.

“Kill them,” Hyoshiko repeated. “How you do it is all up to you. Stab, strangle… the methods are numerous. Kill them or be killed.” Her paw struck the rock, making the ground tremble as she did so. “It’s your choice.”

Sakura froze, picturing the little bodies back at camp _cold, lifeless, blood spattered on red snow, purple bruise marks on the neck._ The panthers wanted that. _They wanted that._ It was the price for acquiring summons. _But could he pay it?_ Fingers curled, hands becoming fists, and they shook in silent rage. _He was an omega. Omegas didn’t kill their pack._ A growl rumbled low in his throat. _It was no wonder no one had yet acquired the panther or the serpent summons._ They asked too much.

He wasn’t about to kill his pack. He had chosen to protect them, and they trusted him. _He would never break their trust._ Not like how the alphas had always broken his trust in them. _He was an omega. He was better than that._

His hand closed around the hilt of his o katana which had survived the journey there just about, strapped to his back as it was. “And to think I wanted you as summons,” he muttered, eyes narrowed into jadeite chips. “Try and kill me,” he snarled, drawing his blade, leaping straight for the more worrisome threat – the serpent. _He needed to neutralise the threat of lightening, then get away from the boss of the panthers… then try and summon himself back._

A paw knocked him out of the air midjump, slamming him into the ground hard enough to make his ribs creak. _Or were they cracked._ “You sure?” Hyoshiko asked, teeth unerringly close. _All it would take was one bite, and then he’d be a goner._

“Fuck you,” he snarled through bloodied lips, sending chakra to his legs, kicking the oversized paw off him.

Hyoshiko chuckled then, but Sakura was moving once more. _He wasn’t going to die at the hands of panthers and serpents, no matter how pretty and deadly they were._ He surpassed them both in those categories. He bared his teeth, lunging for Leviathan again, frowning when the great water serpent didn’t move. _Was he not threatening enough—_

Hyoshiko slammed her paw down once more, but it missed him by a mile. The objects in her paw though, caught his interest. Two scrolls. _They looked summoning contracts._ Frowning, Sakura paused in his attack. “What?” he demanded, looking between the two chuckling summons. _He could hear the vibrations from the body beneath the scales, the serpent seemingly purring in amusement._ “I’m not going to kill my pack.”

“That’s the correct answer, little serpent,” Leviathan spoke, voice masculine and deep. “And you might be surprised to hear that no one has answered the way you have before.”

“How could we put our contracts in the hands of one who would happily stab us in the back to save their own skin?” Hyoshiko enquired, voice alarmingly gentle in comparison to before. “Congratulations, human. You have passed both of our challenges.”

His beloved o katana fell to the ground, a frown on his lips as he tried to get his head around what had just happened. “What?” he mumbled, feeling as though he had said that word far too much.

“Do you want to become our summoner?” Hyoshiko asked, seemingly ignoring his confused expression and his incredulous murmurs.

“Uh,” Sakura spoke, tongue tripping over itself as clarity came to him then. “Yes. Yes I do!” he exclaimed, stumbling over to where the scrolls were. “I need to get back to my pa—I mean, my wards soon.”

Hyoshiko tilted her head then, watching silently as he unfurled the scroll. “Sign your name in blood for both contracts – and be aware that you are our first summoner. This means though we may be familiar with battles between summons, we are not very familiar with battles with shinobi kind.”

Nodding, Sakura sliced open his thumb, writing his name in the first section for both scrolls, mind racing over all the questions he needed to ask before he went back. “Will I be keeping the scroll with me?” he asked. “Oh, and is it possible if I allow one of the brats I have to sign the panther contract at the very least – in case something happens to me and I’m unable to summon you?”

Hyoshiko tilted her head. “I suppose that’s acceptable. You have someone in mind?”

Sakura thought of blondie. “Yeah,” he said, folding his arms – only to wince at the pressure on his ribs. “Ouch,” he grumbled, hand going to his chest, and he silently debated on whether it would be better to save chakra or whether he needed to be fully healed upon return. _It wasn’t like they were anywhere too dangerous._

A head rammed his legs out from underneath him, and Sakura blinked as he found himself atop the great water dragon’s head. “Hyoshiko used too much force,” Levithan stated, and Sakura scowled.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, feeling water seep into his pants from the almost slimy feel to the scales beneath his fingers as he balanced himself there as he was taken out. Their destination soon became obvious though – a small island barely visible from the banks he had run across, what with it being hidden by the rise to the cliff between those places.

“Summoner?” a voice enquired, and Sakura’s head snapped around, green eyes meeting an oh so similar colour set in the head of a serpent with inky black scales, and fins of the palest blue.

“Aye,” Leviathan spoke, head rumbling beneath Sakura’s perch. “He passed the challenges. Our clan has our first summoner at long last,” he remarked. “Though Hyoshiko-chan was a bit too rough with him.”

“Ah, so he requires healing?” the younger masculine voice continued, and Sakura found himself being set down in the shallows of the beach on the small island which was seemingly the heart of the serpent’s territory. “Nice to meet you, summoner.”

“Sakura,” he offered.

“Sakura-sama,” the summon said, nodding. “I will treat you, so please hold still,” he continued, and Sakura found himself receiving an odd sort of headbutt to the chest. The green glow which accompanied medical chakra lit up the night, and Sakura blinked in surprise. _His summons knew medical jutsu._ That was an interesting little snippet of information. _He would have to return and compare techniques one time._

His eyes widened then. “Do your kind have sage mode?” he asked, curiosity plastered over his face as he temporarily forgot his inhibitions. “Is it involved in your medical procedures? Please tell me… this healing feels different to my own.”

The younger summon looked up at Leviathan, as if asking for permission – permission granted with the slight nod of the larger water dragon’s head. “Go ahead,” Leviathan rumbled. “Sakura-sama is our first summoner, and worthy of our respect.”

“Yes to both,” the summon continued, an eager chirping rumbling from his throat as he looped his body around where he sat in the shallow waters. “Though I am afraid to say one requires a large chakra store in order to be able to accomplish our sage mode.” Green eyes drooped, a snort of water being ejected from his mouth.

“I have a secondary storage in the form of a jutsu, and it should be large enough,” Sakura said, folding his arms over his newly healed chest. “Before I had an… accident… with space-time seals, I was looking into a way to reduce the effect releasing this technique has on my body. I believe nature chakra may be the answer to this,” he remarked, chewing on his lip as he mulled over the research notes stored in the back of his mind. “So I would like to begin looking into this at the earliest possible convenience.”

Leviathan huffed. “What a polite summoner you are,” he said, chortling then. “And to think you raised your blade against me earlier…” Leviathan hummed. “Climb back aboard, youngling. I believe I’ve stolen you away from the panthers for too long of a time. Hyoshiko-chan won’t like it should I try to keep you all to myself.”

Blinking numbly, Sakura climbed back atop the slimy head, frowning as he rubbed his fingers over the gunk, bringing it up to his face for a closer inspection. “Huh,” he mumbled, kneading the gel-like substance between his fingers. It didn’t feel all that bad, and it smelt vaguely minty. _Perhaps it would be useful for something?_ He tilted his head, contemplating the thought. _He could ask him summons later –_ maybe after he’d found an area of water large enough to summon one of their number. _It would be wonderful if it had some sort of use in medicine._

“All healed up then?” Hyoshiko enquired, slinking out stealthily from behind the shadows of one of the rocks as Leviathan brough them back to the clifftop meeting base. Dark eyes looked him up and down. “I have conferred with my claw. Hyouto will likely be your usual summon, though many others are willing to answer your call,” she said, watching as he slid down from the scaled head. _He was definitely going to need to change his clothes as soon as he got back._

Though he would probably have a bath first. Just the thought of that was enough to make him sigh in happiness. The bath would likely be a cold one. _More refreshing,_ as they liked to call it in a village that didn’t yet seem to exist.

“Am I all set to return?” Sakura asked.

Hyoshiko nodded. “Summon one of my kin should you have need of us. Though I feel I should point out that you must summon us on land. We are earth-based summons, just as the sea serpents are water-based. We will answer your call based on where we are summoned to, unlike single summon realms,” she informed him, and Sakura nodded. It did make sense, after all, and he could deny that part of him had been wondering about that fact. Dual summon realms were rare, given some of the possible natures of summons.

Some, like the snakes, demanded sacrifices of their summoners. Sakura just felt lucky he had ended up with benevolent summons rather than any more malicious kinds. _Not that he doubted his summons could be malicious if provoked._ A smile pulled at his lips. “I shall,” he said, holding onto the contracts he had earnt. _It was now his duty to protect those scrolls and pass them on to those he saw fit to inherit them._

The world around him vanished in a puff of white smoke, and Sakura blinked, holding onto his scrolls for dear life as a body slammed into his side. His foot was already moving, chakra ready—

“Shishou!”

“Fucking brats,” he muttered, retracting his chakra and pulling his strike before it could land. “Did you think I wouldn’t come back or something?”


	8. he gives his harness bells a shake

It hadn’t taken long for the novelty of his return to wear off, and Sakura soon found himself free of the three clingy brats. His eyes flickered over to the bundle of furs which looked to be quivering ever so slightly, scowling when he spied the onyx eyes peering out at him. He sat close enough to keep an eye on the boy – and stop him doing anything stupid, liking running off, and likely setting off half of the very lethal traps set up around the area – but far away enough not to alarm him. The boy wouldn’t be able to scent him, what with his chakra-blocked scent glands, meaning he didn’t realise they shared the same presentation.

His attackers had all been male as far as he could tell, which meant the boy would naturally be wary of him, the only adult in the area. Which was why he was encouraging the girls to take care of him, given how he figured they would be received much better than he would.

Let him approach under his own steam. All of his other brats adored him for reasons unknown and were probably singing his praises. His ears reddened at the thought. _Stupid brats, the lot of them._ Still, he was going to make the eldest one sign with the panthers, no matter her apparent intelligence level.

His summons would be fine with her, once she had gotten the basics of chakra manipulation stamped out. Which was how he’d wound up supervising his brats and their training. _Again._ He had set his heart on getting his _wards_ up to scratch with basic shinobi abilities, and then he would be taking them south – he was hoping to figure out which clan one of the little ones came from, and ideally get her and her friend safely there, so long as they had a reputation for not mistreating omegas, that was. The Uchiha boy was the priority. He didn’t particularly want people accusing him of kekkei genkai theft when he was just trying to do his good deed for the day.

Blondie would probably be harder to get rid of, but with any luck Konoha would soon be formed, and he could assign her a _training mission_ there to get her off his hands.

That was the plan.

Though he wasn’t holding out too much hope that everything would go according to said plan. Any plans he made usually had a tendency to go waysides. But he would adapt. Hopefully. _It was easier said than done._

“Ah.” Sakura blinked as the realisation hit him. _He had two kids with black hair now, which meant he couldn’t keep referring to them as such._ He slapped his fist into his palm. “What are all of your names?”

* * *

Blondie’s actual name turned out to be Tsubaki. Yet another floral name. He doubted he would start using it, but it was rather nice to know what name would be appearing beside his own on the summoning contract soon enough. Her resemblance to Ino was slight, but the more he looked at her, the more he noticed it. He tried to ignore the way it squeezed at his chest, silently vowing to not let her down like he had done with Ino. She was an omega, and she was his charge. _At least until he found a safe place for her to live… and after he was done teaching her the basics of self-defence._ They were similar to the sorts of moves he’d learnt before meeting Tsunade. _Hit them where it hurt, and then run away as quickly as possible._

Brunette and her black-haired friend went by Umi and Himari respectively. Though Sakura knew he was more likely to point at the one he wanted to speak to rather than using their names. It would come in handy for their journey though. He had no doubts it would be fraught with peril – what with his ridiculous luck. _Really, it was absurd._ How else was he supposed to explain winding up with four little omega charges in such a short space of time?

His eyes strayed over to blondie. _She wasn’t really that little in the grand scheme of things, but she was younger than him by a few years, and as such she was little to him._

The Uchiha boy was dubbed Haruto, or so Himari had told him – what with she and Umi being the main source of communication between the boy and the rest of their small group. Sakura had decided to be as patient as he was capable of being. _He knew the sorts of thoughts which were no doubt going through the boy’s head._ They were alike in the most terrible of ways. Sakura only swore he would ensure Haruto wouldn’t experience what he had at the hands of his idiotic teammates.

He wouldn’t make the boy feel even worse about his situation.

So providing silent support from a distance it was – at least until the boy sought out comfort from him – until he stopped looking so terrified of being near him. He hated the untrusting eyes he earnt, but Sakura supposed that was the price he paid for always concealing his scent.

He wasn’t about to trust kids with his secret. Not when they were at the age where they blurted out vital information without a care in the world. Maybe once they understood the meaning of subtlty, and were less likely to be tricked into speaking those secrets… Maybe then he’d trust them with the information he was actually an omega rather than the alpha the three little ones had assumed him to be.

* * *

Sage mode, sadly enough, was put on hold for a while longer – and Sakura was coming to realise the fact that he would likely have to wait until Konoha was formed, or until he had settled down somewhere safe, given how blondie was apparently latching onto him for the foreseeable future. _Unlike the others, she wasn’t one he could easily find a clan for._

But it wasn’t like he was getting too old. He was still in his prime, and he would be for a while longer. He’d be able to return to his research into the Yin Seal soon enough.

“Shishou!” Blondie’s cry had him scowling as he pulled himself from his thoughts about his future plans.

His eyes narrowed. “What is it?” he asked, sighing quietly as he looked around at the melting snow coating the forest around them. The warmer months were coming, and the kids were almost as ready as Sakura could get them for their travels.

“It’s been ten minutes, hasn’t it?” she enquired, glee glinting in her blue eyes as she pointed to the leaves stuck to her forehead and arms – five in total, each in different places. It was a more complex version of the usual stick a single leaf to ones’ forehead, and Sakura found it made it easier to transition from the leaf exercise to walking up trees then. “I did it!”

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “Congratulations, brat. You’ve mastered the most basic of chakra exercises,” he said, smiling as he took in the numerous trees surrounding them. _Oh, being a sensei was actually quite entertaining, he was finding._ Sakura wondered whether it said anything about him – the fact that he took such joy in seeing his pseudo-students-slash-wards struggling to master things he had once learnt with ease. “Now go and climb a tree without using your hands.”

Tsubaki blinked, glancing between him and the nearest sizable tree before her. “Without my hands?” she echoed, and Sakura only chuckled at the confusion written across her face as he climbed to his feet.

“Like so,” he said, walking up the tree like Kakashi had so long ago – only he was more competent, and didn’t need crutches as such. _Because he wasn’t moronic enough to give himself chakra exhaustion._ “It’s like what you were just doing with those leaves, only on a bigger scale,” he explained, carefully looking over his student for any of the signs of oncoming chakra exhaustion. One could never be too careful when it came to the overenthusiasm of Tsubaki. “Tell me when you get too tired to continue,” he added, hating the happy look that earnt him as he showed simple concern over the annoying brat’s wellbeing. “Now stop looking at me with that moronic expression and get moving. We don’t have time to waste here. Chop. Chop.”

“Sakura-sama!”

He sighed, turning then to face the trio of baby omegas, plonking himself back down to a seated position. _To a less threatening stance._ “What is it?” he asked, voice softer than usual as his gaze flickered between two doe brown pairs of eyes, and a set of onyx black ones that stared at him with no small amount of hesitancy and mistrust.

“Read?” Umi asked, holding out the book of herbs he had started to help them read. _It wasn’t the best teaching material for those learning to read, but Sakura took what he could get._ Besides, the information was always useful. He hardly wanted his brats poisoning themselves if they were stranded out in the wild.

“Come and sit here then,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes when the little brunette perched herself on his lap. Umi snuggled up next to Haruto – sandwiching the boy between his side and her own. Sakura moved slowly then, far too aware of how the boy was shaking. The aim was to be as nonthreatening as possible, he reminded himself. After all, he needed to at least earn a semblance of the boy’s trust before they embarked on their adventure through Fire Country.

* * *

“I did it!” Blondie squealed at far too high a pitch, and Sakura had only a single moment to lift his arms up and out of the way before she bodily tackled him into a hug.

“Yes, and it only took you three days,” he muttered, scowling at the prolonged contact the blonde brat insisted on. “Now get off me already, dumbass, before I throw you in the river.”

“Three days isn’t too long!” Tsubaki said, pouting as she always tended to do whenever he was blunt like that – which was pretty much always. “I bet you took—”

“I walked up a tree on my first attempt,” he said matter-of-factly, feeling terribly smug at the impressed look that earnt him. _Naruto and Sasuke hadn’t been that impressed with his prowess before._ “Now _stop hugging me already!”_

“Shishou, your ears are turning red,” she all but purred, smiling up with a grin which looked alarmingly like one of his own. It was then that Sakura realised he was _infecting_ her. Part of him was torn between pride and horror at the thought of having a _mini-me_. Like Gai and Lee. Only blondie didn’t take after him in appearance.

“That means nothing!” Sakura snarled, hating the heat which continued to rise in his cheeks and ears. “Now get off me, or I _will_ throw you in the river!”

“There’s no need to be embarrassed—”

“The river it is then.”

* * *

“Now,” Sakura said, lifting up his hand, showing blondie the green chakra which tipped the ends of his fingers. “You’ve mastered the tree-climbing exercise, which means you’ll probably be getting to the level where you can manipulate your chakra like this,” he continued, ignoring the struggles of the alpha who’d tried to attack her in town. Sakura had tied those knots himself – meaning the bound man wasn’t going anywhere. _Unlucky for him,_ but Sakura couldn’t really bring himself to care. The man had tried to assault his charge, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was highly protective of the little lives under his care.

“Shishou, what are we doing with this”—her lip curled—“thing…”

His lips pulled back, baring his teeth in a mockery of a grin. “I am so glad you asked,” he chirped, manipulating his chakra until only a single scalpel remained. “Today,” he drawled, “I’m going to teach you the best way to crush a male alpha’s pride.”

Tsubaki perked up at the mention of that, eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. “How?”

Jade eyes gleamed as they returned their focus to the captive alpha. _He’d chosen the wrong day to assault an omega._ “Castration.”

* * *

“If you leave them alive after that,” Sakura began, guiding his charge away from the bloodied body they’d left for the crows to feast on. “Then they’ll either be plotting revenge, or they’ll help earn you a reputation.”

Blondie tilted her head. “A reputation?” she parroted, and Sakura almost cooed internally at how she looked when she echoed his words. Really, she did it far too much, but Sakura supposed that was part of the learning process.

“A reputation which tells people not to fuck with you,” he said, grinning at the memory of how his own had spread. It had been slow – so terribly slow – and yet so utterly worth it. “Or they’ll—”

The body fell from the trees with a thud, and Sakura could only blink at the sight before him. He was almost certain it was thanks to his brand of ridiculous luck. He’d been overdue it for quite some time, and now it had come in the form of a bloodied, unconscious alpha.

With a red and white uchiwa on his back.


	9. to stop without a farmhouse near

His hands were steepled under his chin as he stared at their latest _guest,_ and this time, Sakura was certain he would be staying as such. For one, the Uchiha was an adult fully capable of protecting himself. For another, he was an _alpha,_ and Sakura could feel himself barely repressing the urge to snarl and hiss at the unconscious form. The fact he was an _Uchiha,_ or so Sakura was guessing from his outfit, was the only reason he was still alive – because who better to help smooth things over when he handed the baby omega under his care over to his clan…

The black-haired male was bound to the nearest tree opposite him, and Sakura had been very thorough with removing anything remotely weapon-ish from his person. Uchiha or not, he was not risking a fight. Not when there were baby lives there which would become collateral. So it was in the small clearing-den they had made that they waited in. Sakura had been careful to send the brats as far as he could away from the potential threat. _He’d also healed half of the wounds on the man as a hopeful goodwill gesture, but shinobi always tended to be stab first, thank later people._ Sakura was torn between the urge to gut him or tear out his throat if the male harmed him or any of the precious pack. _Wards,_ Sakura reminded himself, gaze flickering over to where they sat.

Haruto was sandwiched between the two girls, snuggling up to Umi as she held the book of herbs, with Himari lying across his legs. Touch was good, especially between omegas of the same age. They tended to be more tactile than their alpha counterparts. _Well, unless the omega in question wound up touch-starved for days on end, especially after a traumatic experience better known as rape._ Touch was important. Comfort was important. Sakura wasn’t going to let Haruto end up like he had.

Which was part of the reason why he wasn’t throwing Haruto to the alpha and letting him take the boy back to their clan. The man could, after all, simply be wearing the clothes of an Uchiha. He could also be a terrible person. Which was why Sakura had his heart set on travelling through the Land of Fire. Whether the adult Uchiha would tag along, or whether he’d wind up buried in a shallow grave nearby was still up in the air for debate.

A twitch, soon concealed, was the only warning Sakura had as to his new prisoner’s awakened state. Faking unconsciousness, of course, was a classic strategy of shinobi well learned in their trade. More time to eavesdrop, more time to think of a plan to escape, before anything _fun_ happened. It was just unfortunate for the Uchiha that Sakura was a medic. He was attuned to patients faking sleep so they could escape the hospital with a broken leg, and several bruised ribs – _hello Kakashi-sensei, suicidal maniac extraordinaire._

“I know you’re awake,” he said, voice ringing in the near silence of the clearing. Evening had fallen, the sun low in the sky, and Sakura knew he had to be vigilant. Night-time made the best time for escaping and vanishing into the darkness. He wasn’t about to let the Uchiha do just that. He’d either be useful or dead. Those were his only two options. “And if your sharingan is activated when you open your eyes then I’m gouging them out… well, provided you actually have a set.”

Eyes opened then, the irises onyx instead of that crimson red he knew so well. _That he had thought oh so pretty once before._ He still did, though the sharingan was soured by the thoughts of Sasuke. “Indulging in some kekkei genkai theft, are we?”

Sakura snorted at the taunting voice which rang out. _Evidently he hadn’t been captured all that much._ Then again, the odds of being captured and actually making out alive were much slimmer in the times he was stuck in. Though it could only work to his advantage right there and then. “Well, I was debating between crushing them underfoot, feeding them to my summons, or maybe offering to replace them at a later date so long as you behave like a good little captive. Red eyes are so terribly last year,” he drawled, smiling with far too many teeth.

Onyx eyes narrowed into slits then, and Sakura played with a kunai, debating on whether or not it would scare the alpha if he used the tree behind him as a throwing target of sorts. Then again, it would end up leaving weapons near his captive, and that was something he strived to avoid. “What do you want from me?”

Sakura rolled his eyes. “What makes you think I want something from you?” he asked, deciding to play coy with his prisoner. _Really, he was having far too much fun with this – having an alpha at his mercy._ The feeling was terribly addictive _._ “I might just be keeping you around for the sheer fun of it, or maybe I’m just a nice person who happened to find your bloodied, unconscious form and decided to heal you out of the goodness of my own heart…”

Black eyebrows rose, and Sakura found himself on the receiving end of a pair of flat, disbelieving eyes. “Cut the bullshit,” he demanded, glaring at him then, and Sakura stiffened as he caught a red gleam to the eyes boring into his own. Silently, he adjusted his chakra flow, disrupting any genjutsu he might have been under. Nothing changed, but Sakura didn’t relax his guard in the slightest.

“You don’t have to put it so bluntly,” he said, chuckling then. “But I guess I’ll be frank then,” Sakura mumbled, fishing through his pouch for where he had sealed away that _gift_ from the old man. A puff of smoke heralded the arrival of the gunbai he’d been given what felt like so long ago. “Recognise this, I wonder?”

Black became red, and Sakura had only a split second to avert his eyes as the sharingan emerged. “How?” his voice, once taunting but calm, was the picture of rage. “That is an Uchiha Heirloom—”

“Oh, so that’s what this is,” Sakura murmured, planting the gunbai down in the snow, leaning it up against the tree behind him. “Now, I’ll be lenient, and I won’t gouge out your eyes, so long as you turn the sparkly red off in the next ten seconds like a good boy.”

“Not until you—”

“I can and will carry out my threat, and you have _five_ second now before I come and scoop your eyeballs out.”

A huff of air, and the rage on his face were all Sakura needed to hear to know that those red eyes were black once more. He had some sense in that skull, or so Sakura figured. Impressive, given he’d found alphas were notoriously stupid. _Or maybe he was just biased?_ He did like to call them pigs after all, though in hindsight, it was probably an insult to the pigs.

“Good boy,” Sakura chirped, fighting the urge to pat the man on the head just to emphasise his helplessness. After all, it would be better for him to be a point of contact with the Uchiha Clan. And he’d have to ensure the man didn’t try and turn the Uchiha Clan upon him after he’d finished delivering them their baby omega to love and look after. “Now,” he continued where he’d left off. “I was given this by a man who inherited it from his late wife… who I’m led to believe was an Uchiha.”

Onyx eyes narrowed once more, contemplation written all across his face. _An expressive Uchiha… who’d have thought it?_ Sakura sniggered at the thought, shaking his head before he got back to the topic at hand.

“Long story short, he procreated, and then that child procreated, and here we have a little baby Uchiha,” he said, waving a hand over at where the children were. “I was tasked with bringing him back to the clan, since, you know, I’m a nice person.”

An eyebrow raised, scepticism written all over his face as a tense silence fell between the both of them. “And what would you want from my clan for this… boon?” he demanded, and Sakura grinned, teeth showing. _Oh the little pouting alpha was smart…_

But really… “I don’t want anything,” Sakura grunted. _It would be enough to have the Uchiha owe him one for bringing back a precious omega._ They were very particular about the blood of their clan belonging with the clan, and that was when in Konoha. He had no doubts the vein of that thought would flow that much stronger in his current time.

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that?” the Uchiha demanded. “You’re a shinobi, and this is the _Uchiha_ Clan we’re talking about here… Be realistic.”

“Surprisingly enough, the world doesn’t revolve around the Uchiha, sorry to burst your bubble there,” he said, leaning back, keeping a sharp eye on every twitch of the hands bound before him. “I just have a particular _dislike_ of rapists, and pathetic alphas who indulge in those sorts of activities…”

The Uchiha blinked then, he blinked a few times before the words seemed to sink in, and Sakura could only smile even wider at the look of rage and anger which flashed in his eyes. Though it was soon concealed, as any good shinobi would. “And what, might I ask, happened to these… _cockroaches?”_

Sakura tilted his head. “Cockroaches… good one,” he murmured. “But, y’know, I just went skipping up to them merrily and asked if I could have the baby omega back please, and then we all went and skipped off into the sunset – OF COURSE I KILLED THEM, YOU UTTER DIMWIT!”

If he were to hazard a guess, Sakura would say the Uchiha seemed alarmingly approving at his comment. Though that was also probably about the time when the insult to his person finally registered.

* * *

“Rise and shine, buttercup!”

One green eye cracked open, and Sakura loathed his captive-turned-comrade in that instant. “I will _gut_ you,” he hissed with his usual morning bedside manner. The Uchiha was insufferable. That was the conclusion Sakura had come to after spending a matter of hours with his freed self. Logical arguments about the benefits of leaving him and his wards untouched had proven surprisingly helpful, though Sakura supposed being a lone traveller not allied with any of the Uchiha’s enemies had helped his case. That case being bringing the baby Uchiha to where he truly belonged.

Though Sakura couldn’t help but question why, for the life of him, he had ended up with the most obnoxiously cheerful and mouthy one of the lot. _His shitty luck, obviously._ The universe despised him, and Sakura despised the Uchiha who had taken to trying to charm his pack of children who had taken to cuddling up to him to escape the annoyance of an Uchiha. Something he had been terribly smug about. _Sakura had already threatened the man with numerous counts of bodily harm should he harm one of the precious lives under his care._

“Aww, look at you being all homicidal…” The Uchiha cooed, and Sakura felt another wave of pure, utter loathing overcome him. Only the fact that they had agreed to mutual non-aggression on their way to the Uchiha Clan. Although his threats didn’t seem to count. “You’re so cute when you’re like this, Sakura- _chan_.”

Sakura was moving before the irritant finished, fist slamming into the tree right by his head, earning himself a pair of wide black eyes. “We might be under an agreement of non-aggression right now, but let’s not forget that should we cross paths again at a later date, you’re fair game.”

Silence fell then, heavy in the air between them, and Sakura resisted the urge to sock the Uchiha one when his lips twitched into that bright grin which looked so _alien_ on his face. “Why, Sakura- _chan,_ then we should make the most of our time together, no?”

Sakura felt his eyebrow twitch – a tic he was fairly sure would become a common occurrence given his proximity to his latest annoyance. _He was worse than blondie. So much worse._

“Shishou!” As if by magic, his other annoyance spoke up then, and Sakura could only pinch his nose and sigh in disgust. “We’re all packed up here!”

“Good,” he muttered, finally registering the way he was sitting atop the Uchiha – and the waggling eyebrows that earnt. “Ah, ah”—he cut the man off before he could get another infuriating sentence out—“that’s enough out of you Uchiha. Don’t call me _chan_ or I will _break_ something.”

“Non-aggression,” the Uchiha cheerfully reminded him.

“I can heal things as well as I mend them, Uchiha,” Sakura remarked, a truly awful grin curling at his lips. “I could probably cut your big toes off and replace them on the opposite foot without you ever realising a thing.”

The Uchiha froze then, an almost calculating gleam glimmering in his eyes before it was replaced by that mischievous spark Sakura was learning to despise with prejudice. “That is… a mildly terrifying thought,” he murmured. “But anyway, since you’ve yet to ask, Sakura- _kun_ the name is Izuna. _Izuna._ ”

“Uchiha.”

The Uchiha – Izuna – pouted then. “Has anyone told you you’re a right grumpy bastard?”

Sakura only smiled. “All the time.” He stood then, intending to check on his kids. “Do try to keep up, Uchiha.”


	10. his house is in the village though

His summons, as it turned out, made the travel into Fire Country that much smoother. It also reduced the amount of time he was forced to spend in the company of the complete and utter _annoyance_ which had decided to attach itself to him like a terribly bothersome leech.

Arms wrapped around him from behind – and it was only the fact Sakura knew Izuna was clueless as to his presentation that had him refraining from ripping his arms out of their sockets. _Well, that and the fact that harming Izuna was something he’d agreed not to do for the duration of their trip down to his previous homeland_. “Sakura-kun!” Izuna purred, peering over his shoulder then at the dinner he was preparing before the campfire they had set up. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Yes, actually,” Sakura remarked, smiling as pleasantly as he could, relishing in the look of surprise which flashed across the alpha male’s face. “You can fuck off and never show your unsightly face before me again.”

“Ouch,” Izuna said, still continuing to lean against him, even as Sakura prepared the stew made from deer meat and the few wild vegetables they had managed to scavenge. “You’re _so_ cold, Sakura-kun.” He pulled back then ever so slowly, undoubtedly acutely aware of how uncomfortable Sakura had been. _Though with his limited braincells he would never be able to fathom why. Why Sakura might be so uncomfortable around alphas._ “Really though, I think you and my elder sister would get along fabulously. You’d be a match made in heaven,” Izuna continued, that sly smirk of his only growing as Sakura cast a few glares his way. “In fact, the only way it would be more fitting is if you were an omega… but then I suppose you wouldn’t be as much of a spitfire.”

His fingers twitched, the overwhelming urge to punch the obnoxious alpha in the face, chakra-enhanced strength be damned. “Oh my, do omegas suddenly no longer have personalities?” Sakura drawled, glaring his frustrations to the starry sky above them.

“You aren’t half protective of your kids, are you?” he murmured, proving he was still blissfully ignorant to his true nature. _The fact that he was hovering over the back of an omega._ A sneer curled at Sakura’s lips. _If he knew he’d probably be forced into marriage with Izuna’s sister… whoever the hell that was._ “Did something happen to your own?”

“I have never… partnered with anyone like that,” Sakura said, glaring at him pointedly, tone of the conversation making it clear he wanted no further questions. _He had never partnered with anyone willingly nor with the intent to create a child._ Izuna didn’t seem to care, and Sakura could only grind his teeth together as Izuna crouched down next to him, a smile of his lips as he leered at him.

“Aww,” Izuna crooned, and Sakura silently envisioned thumping his fist into that annoying face. “Is _Sakura-kyun_ saving his virginity for someone special?” he asked, and Sakura was incredibly impressed with his own self-control, an imaginary fight he was winning playing out in his mind as he stared at the bothersome alpha before him. “How romantic!”

“I,” Sakura hissed through clenched teeth, remembering the many ways he’d been _violated_ time and time again until he had grown strong enough to fight back – _to tear their throats out and bathe in their blood_ , “am _no_ virgin.”

Izuna blinked, mouth falling open before closing quietly for once, the alpha having realised he had crossed an unspoken line somewhere with that comment, and Sakura fought against the memories that rose to the surface. _They were so much more vivid than usual._ He blamed it on the stench of an alpha nearby, similar and yet so different to the scent of the one who had caught him once on a mission long, long ago. _The one who had thrown him in a tiny cage. The one who had passed him around like a tool to be used. The one who had auctioned him off to that couple._

“Sakura—”

“We need to move,” he growled, and the insipid fool was, for once in the last however many hours, silent. “Gather your things. We leave in five.”

* * *

He summoned his panthers once more in a puff of smoke, returning their greetings curtly, mood soured from a certain imbecilic buffoon, and not even Tsubaki – his bothersome blonde limpet – could cheer him up from his slump. “I’ll get dinner ready, Shishou!” she declared, and Sakura nodded, ignoring the cooing Izuna was doing at their expense – he hadn’t forgiven, nor forgotten the earlier comments. _He hated alphas._

Perhaps, once, long ago he had tried to save his _wonderful_ virginity for a special someone… but it had been robbed from him, and no matter how many alphas he killed – no matter how much filthy blood he bathed in – it wouldn’t bring back that v card which someone had checked for him what felt like hundreds of years ago. Sakura liked to think it hadn’t been anything special in the end. _He liked to forget how special the memory might have been had he shared it with a special someone who treasured him._ All he remembered were hands holding him down, clothes being torn, and then—

_Pain._

They had stolen something from him that day, alongside the shattering they had done of the rose-tinted lenses he had once viewed the world through. He had gone into that mission bright-eyed, excited for his first trip outside the walls of Konoha, and he had returned grim-faced, jaded, with a burning thirst for something he later realised to be revenge. Revenge and strength.

Kakashi had expected him to quit after that mission, despite Sakura keeping the exact details of what went down to himself. Dimly, Sakura supposed the signs of him being _attacked_ had been terribly obvious. But Kakashi had only buried himself in his failures and refused to talk to him, blinded by his mistake, treating him like breakable glass from that point on. _He honestly preferred the kiddie glove treatment to that._ He hated feeling as though there was something _wrong_ with him, something _breakable_ about him compared to the rest of the team. _And for what – because he was an omega?_ He had wanted to be treated as an alpha would be. Though he would never have wanted to present as an alpha. Sakura doubted he would’ve been able to stand being a pompous, blinded, bigoted imbecile whose only worth lay in strength. _And he wouldn’t have even been able to see it, because alphas were always so very blind to the lives of those they deemed lesser than their own._ Omegas, annoyingly enough, fit right into that terrible category. Part of him wanted to prove them wrong – drag their heads out from where they had been shoved up their backsides, gouge out their eyes to watch him turn their world on its axis.

A snort and a sigh escaped him then, though neither at the same time, and content that his summons would guard them, he curled up in his furs between the large, gnarled roots of a nearby tree. Rarely did he give into omega instincts to hide in the safety of a nest, but he knew it would be the only way to get some rest. He cared not for the curious stare of one Uchiha Izuna as he curled up and tried to fight the nightmares he knew were coming. He didn’t want to _remember_ – he doubted anyone would want to be reminded of such an event, but his mind was an absolute _bitch_ at times, and it so loved to remind him of what would await him if he wasn’t strong enough to fight. If he couldn’t hold his own against the alphas who had so often lorded their presentation over him. _Like his omega presentation was something to be ashamed of._

He had already vowed to bite the head off anyone who dared to try and tell him as such. He wouldn’t be weak again. He wouldn’t be cowed, shackled, nor caged for a second time. _Well, probably not a ‘second’ time, given he had been caged on far too many occasions before._

He would never be caged again, nor would any of his kids. _And if anyone tried there would be blood spilled – and it wouldn’t be his, nor any of his charges. His pack._ And so Sakura slept, and he dreamed.

But they weren’t nice dreams.

 _“Look at the little slut – he’s getting off on this!”_ His face pinched, a tremble running through his hand, fingers twitching with an urge to crush.

_The harsh bite of a whip against his bare skin. “Don’t stop, dear,” the soft, feminine voice crooned, the other body behind him rocking him into action as he was torn open, and he cried out, both in pain and humiliation because his body was reacting to their ministrations. Sakura hated it, tears running down his cheeks, only for a warm, slippery tongue to track their trails up his cheeks. “I said. Don’t. Stop.”_

Fur surrounded him, soft and soothing, the familiar scent of den and _safety_ overpowering the pungent terror those memories brought to mind. Skin met akin as he shifted in his fading slumber, and, groaning lowly, Sakura cracked his eyes open, a scowl marring his lips and an irritated scoff escaping them when he spied the bodies curled up next to him in his den. “Stupid brats,” he muttered, staring at Blondie and Himari as they cuddled into him – evidently having subconsciously detected his distress and instincts encouraging them to comfort him the only way omegas knew how. _Touch._

Woken from his terrible dream, he ran a hand through his long pink locks, a sigh escaping him as he relished in the scent and touch of what he identified as _pack._ No doubt because their was a bloody alpha nearby. They could officially be classed as a little pack now. _Because only alphas could lead._ His lip curled at the thought, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Green eyes slammed open as the bitter, sour taste hit the back of his mouth. Furs were thrown aside in an instant before he even heard the croaked, _“Sorry, Sakura-sama.”_

Blood. Blood had been spilt. That of his summons. _His_ summons.

The Uchiha was already moving, launching himself towards the two who were the targets of the little night time raid. _Umi, and little Uchiha Haruto._ His pack. _His._

A snarl escaped his throat, guttural and menacing, and Sakura didn’t even have to think. His body moved on instinct, and he barely had time to take in the wall of wood which appeared out of nowhere to block of Umi and Haruto before he was in front of the man – the _alpha_ – who had dared to attack those under his protection. _Who had dared to draw the blood of his summons and injure them enough to ensure they returned to their special realm._ Sakura blinked, noting the three overlapping black triangles emblazoned on his shirt which formed what he presumed to be a clan symbol, before chakra spiked in his fingers as they tore straight through skin, bone, and organ, bloodied fingernails sticking out the other side of the _imbecilic alpha._ Sakura grinned, teeth bared like a wolf on the hunt, at the yell of pain and the spray of blood which was choked out from his mouth. His hands twisted, palms facing outwards, chakra thrumming through his muscles as he _pushed and pushed_ , tearing the man in two.

Blood rained down on him, arterial spray drenching him from head to toe, and Sakura could only lick his lips as he turned towards the others from an entirely _unfamiliar_ clan. They scattered like rats, seeing the state of the comrade, and Sakura felt the sudden urge to pursue them – to hunt them down like a cat chasing mice – but the sound of Izuna’s voice had him spinning on his heel.

Sharingan spinning, gaze fixed on little Umi and the wall of wood Sakura hadn’t paid much attention to – being too focused on tearing the attacker apart.

_“Senju.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I should point this out - it's an OC clan, so you won't recognise the symbol.

**Author's Note:**

> SPORADIC UPDATES T_T


End file.
